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Glite Dictionary
piculet

piculet

9.9
A small woodpecker from South America, Africa, and Asia that has soft tail feathers
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪk.jʊ.lɪt/
: piculete
  • The ornithologist spotted a rare piculet in the South American rainforest.

Examples

  • Unlike many woodpeckers, the piculet uses its soft tail feathers for balance on branches.

  • The piculet's tapping could be heard across the quiet jungle.

  • Look at that piculet pecking on the tree!

  • The piculet is known for its unique nesting habits.

  • The ornithologist spotted a rare piculet in the South American rainforest.

  • Unlike many woodpeckers, the piculet uses its soft tail feathers for balance on branches.

  • The piculet's tapping could be heard across the quiet jungle.

Surface Forms

piculet singular
piculets plural

Morphology

piculet = picu + let

The word contains the recognizable English diminutive suffix '-let' indicating smallness, but the root 'picu' is not a standalone English word, so the full meaning ('a small woodpecker') is only partly recoverable by learners.

Etymology

The word piculet comes from the Latin picus, which means 'woodpecker', plus the small ending -let meaning 'small'. So a piculet is literally a 'small woodpecker', just like a piglet is a small pig, and that explains why the word is used for a tiny type of woodpecker.