James pike

James Albert, 1913–69, U.S. Protestant Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, and author.
Zebulon Montgomery
[zeb-yoo-luh n] /ˈzɛb yʊ lən/ (Show IPA), 1779–1813, U.S. general and explorer.
noun (pl) pike, pikes
any of several large predatory freshwater teleost fishes of the genus Esox, esp E. lucius (northern pike), having a broad flat snout, strong teeth, and an elongated body covered with small scales: family Esocidae
any of various similar fishes
noun
a medieval weapon consisting of an iron or steel spearhead joined to a long pole, the pikestaff
a point or spike
verb
(transitive) to stab or pierce using a pike
noun
short for turnpike (sense 1)
noun
(Northern English, dialect) a pointed or conical hill
adjective
(of the body position of a diver) bent at the hips but with the legs straight
n.

“highway,” 1812 shortening of turnpike.

“weapon with a long shaft and a pointed metal head,” 1510s, from Middle French pique “a spear; pikeman,” from piquer “to pick, puncture, pierce,” from Old French pic “sharp point or spike,” a general continental term (cf. Spanish pica, Italian picca, Provençal piqua), perhaps ultimately from a Germanic [Barnhart] or Celtic source (see pike (n.4)). Alternative explanation traces the Old French word (via Vulgar Latin *piccare “to prick, pierce”) to Latin picus “woodpecker.” “Formerly the chief weapon of a large part of the infantry; in the 18th c. superseded by the bayonet” [OED]; hence old expressions such as pass through pikes “come through difficulties, run the gauntlet;” push of pikes “close-quarters combat.” German Pike, Dutch piek, Danish pik, etc. are from French pique.

“voracious freshwater fish,” early 14c., probably short for pike-fish, a special use of pike (n.2) in reference to the fish’s long, pointed jaw, and in part from French brochet “pike” (fish), from broche “a roasting spit.”

“pick used in digging,” Middle English pik, pyk, collateral (long-vowel) form of pic (source of pick (n.1)), from Old English piic “pointed object, pickaxe,” perhaps from a Celtic source (cf. Gaelic pic “pickaxe,” Irish pice “pike, pitchfork”). Extended early 13c. to “pointed tip” of anything. Pike, pick, and pitch formerly were used indifferently in English. Pike position in diving, gymnastics, etc., attested from 1928, perhaps on the notion of “tapering to a point.”

Related Terms

come down the pike