magpie (English)
Where does "magpie" come from?
The English word 'magpie' combines the archaic bird name 'pie' with the given name 'Mag', a short form of 'Margaret' historically used to denote a chatterer[1]. The older term 'pie' descends through Middle English and Old French from the Latin 'pīca', meaning magpie[1][2][3]. The Latin root traces further back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*(s)peyk-', which denoted a woodpecker or magpie[1].
Open questions
- Romance forms of pica with an e might reflect a different etymon such as Umbrian peico. [4]
- The Proto-Italic form peikā may have originally been an onomatopoeic word and a vrddhi relative of pikos. [5]
Full etymology tree
- magpie (English), 'One of several kinds of bird in the family Corvidae, especially Pica pica.'
- compound Mag (English), 'Clipping of Magnificat.'
- derived Margaret (English), 'A female given name from Ancient Greek.'
- inherited Margaret (Middle English), 'Margaret'
- inherited Margaret (Old French)
- inherited Margarita (Latin)
- borrowed μαργαρίτης (margarítēs) (Ancient Greek), 'pearl'
- inherited Indo-Iranian source (Proto-Indo-Iranian)
- borrowed μαργαρίτης (margarítēs) (Ancient Greek), 'pearl'
- inherited Margarita (Latin)
- inherited Margaret (Old French)
- inherited Margaret (Middle English), 'Margaret'
- derived Margaret (English), 'A female given name from Ancient Greek.'
- compound pie (English), 'A type of pastry that consists of an outer crust and a filling. (Savory pies are more popular in the UK and sweet pies are more popular in the US, so "pie" without qualification has different connotations in these dialects.)'
- inherited pie (Middle English), 'alternative form of pye (“pie”)'
- inherited pica (Latin), 'magpie'
- inherited *peikā (Proto-Italic), 'magpie'
- inherited *(s)peyk- (Proto-Indo-European), 'name of a bird'
- inherited *peikā (Proto-Italic), 'magpie'
- inherited pica (Latin), 'magpie'
- inherited pie (Middle English), 'alternative form of pye (“pie”)'
- compound Mag (English), 'Clipping of Magnificat.'
Ancestors
- *(s)peyk- (Proto-Indo-European)
- pie (Middle English)
- pie (Old French)
- pica (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- bell-magpie (English)
- black-billed magpie (English)
- Eurasian magpie (English)
- Iberian magpie (English)
- Magpie Festival (English)
- magpie goose (English)
- magpie inkcap (English)
- magpieish (English)
- magpie-jay (English)
- magpie-lark (English)
- magpielike (English)
- magpie moth (English)
Sources
- magpie (English) - Wiktionary
- pie (Middle English) - Wiktionary
- pie (Old French) - Wiktionary
- pica (Latin) - Wiktionary
- peikā (Proto-Italic) - Wiktionary
- Margaret (English) - Wiktionary
- pye (Middle English) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris