Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A Linnean genus of woodpeckers, formerly coextensive with the family Picidæ, later variously restricted. The name is at present used: for the generic group of which the great black woodpecker of Europe, Picus martius, is the type, otherwise called
Dryocopus (see cut underDryocopus ); for a large series of smaller species, spotted with black and white, such as P. major and P. minor of Europe, and the hairy and downy woodpeckers of America, P. villosus and P. pubescens.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A genus of woodpeckers, including some of the common American and European species.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun type genus of Picidae
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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You are not in the flefh, but in the fpirit, if fo be the fpirit of God dwxU in you, that is, a picus, godlike fpirit or temper.
A New Introduction to the Study and Knowledge of the New Testament 1767
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Legend has it they crossed the Apennine mountains following a woodpecker that was sacred to the god Mars, and known in Latin as "picus."
Tutti Beauty 2006
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This is a large handsome bird, (the _picus principalis_ of Linnaeus), it is sometimes called here the wood-cock.
A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of America
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Of woodpeckers we have on the moor and in Bracken Wood at times, three kinds: the common green species (picus viridis) which is generally plentiful; the lesser spotted (picus minor), not seen every year, but occasionally; and, still less frequently seen, the larger spotted (picus major).
Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter James Conway Walter
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In his prophetic art he made use of a woodpecker (_picus_), a prophetic bird sacred to Mars.
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 Ebenezer Cobham Brewer 1853
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[96] He was extremely cautious (as it is observed by a learned and picus historian) of punishing men who had found no accusers but themselves, the Imperial laws not having made any provision for so unexpected a case: condemning therefore a few as a warning to their brethren, he dismissed the multitude with indignation and contempt.
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 2 Edward Gibbon 1765
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We cannot locate an image of the caterpillar of Cephonodes picus, but it is described on the Moths of Australia website as "These caterpillars are usually green, with pale lines along the back and each side."
What's That Bug? 2009
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Nave my dc6res i O then Tfai th 1 'd fiicch Your mouths up, fack you tqrow you in a diccb Or down the ftreami this wouM I do with fpeed t My fingers itch to do this picus deed.
Brachy-martyrologia, Or, A Breviary of All the Greatest Persecutions which Have Befallen the ... 1657
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Save your master: mind you don’t do the same as other servants that use their wily wits to gull him. unde sumam? quem intervortam? quo hanc celocem conferam? impetritum, inauguratumst quovis admittunt aves, picus et cornix ab laeva, corvos parra ab dextera 260 consuadent; certum herclest vostram consequi sententiam.
Amphitryo, Asinaria, Aulularia, Bacchides, Captivi Amphitryon, The Comedy of Asses, The Pot of Gold, The Two Bacchises, The Captives Titus Maccius Plautus 1919
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By Jove, I’ll follow your advice, I certainly will. sed quid hoc, quod picus ulmum tundit? non temerariumst. certe hercle ego quantum ex augurio eius pici intellego, aut mihi in mundo sunt virgae aut atriensi Saureae sed quid illuc quod exanimatus currit huc Leonida? metuo quom illic obscaevavit meae falsae fallaciae.
Amphitryo, Asinaria, Aulularia, Bacchides, Captivi Amphitryon, The Comedy of Asses, The Pot of Gold, The Two Bacchises, The Captives Titus Maccius Plautus 1919
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