picnic

A1 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈpɪknɪk/ UK /ˈpɪknɪk/ See IPA manual

Freq #5046

Meanings

1

noun
A meal that you take outdoors to eat, often in a park or the countryside.

We had a lovely picnic by the river on Sunday.
2

verb
To eat a meal outdoors for pleasure.

We picnicked under a big tree near the lake.
3

noun
Something that is very easy or pleasant to do (often used in the negative).

Moving house in one day was no picnic.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 noun · something that is very easy... piece of cakesnap

Word family

Forms picnickedpicnickingpicnics

Derived forms picnickerpicnickerypicnickianpicnickishpicnickypicniclikepicnicwarewiknic

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

picnic basket
a basket used to carry food and supplies for an outdoor meal

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Picnic came from French pique-nique, which probably combines piquer, “to pick,” with nique, “nothing whatsoever.” It first described a fashionable social meal to which every guest contributed food, then soon developed its familiar sense of an outdoor meal.

Etymology

Borrowed from French pique-nique.

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# picnic

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɪknɪk/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɪknɪk/
**Frequency rank:** 5046

## Meanings
1. A meal that you take outdoors to eat, often in a park or the countryside.
2. To eat a meal outdoors for pleasure.
3. Something that is very easy or pleasant to do (often used in the negative).

## Examples
- We had a lovely picnic by the river on Sunday.
- We picnicked under a big tree near the lake.
- Moving house in one day was no picnic.

## Derived Forms
- picnicker
- picnickery
- picnickian
- picnickish
- picnicky
- picniclike
- picnicware
- wiknic

## Etymology
Borrowed from French pique-nique.

## AI Etymology
Picnic was borrowed from French pique-nique. In present-day English it covers a meal that you take outdoors to eat, often in a park or the countryside, to eat a meal outdoors for pleasure, and something that is very easy or pleasant to do (often used in the negative). The wider family includes derived forms such as picnicker, picnickery, picnickian, picnickish, picnicky.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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