pika
/ˈpaɪkə/noun
pika is spelled P-I-K-A: 4 letters. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pika means “Any of several small, furry mammals, similar to guinea pigs, but related to rabbits, of the genus Ochotona, from the mountains of North America and…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pika is pikas.
How many letters and syllables are in pika?
| Letters | 4: P-I-K-A |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,775th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is pika?
Pika appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pika?
- /ˈpiːkə/
- US /ˈpaɪkə/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pica.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with pika?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pika from its last stressed vowel (/aɪkə/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: paik.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of pika
- pikas plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pika mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of several small, furry mammals, similar to guinea pigs, but related to rabbits, of the genus Ochotona, from the mountains of North America and Asia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pika in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense furry mammal of the genus Ochotona:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pika come from?
From French, from an Evenki word which Peter Simon Pallas transcribes as piika or peeka, but which cannot be found in modern dictionaries. Probably ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare typologically German Pfeifhase (< pfeifen (+ Hase) << Latin pīpō), Czech pišťucha, Russian пищу́ха (piščúxa) (akin to пища́ть (piščátʹ), писк (pisk)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).