# picnic
## English
### Alternative forms

* pic-a-nic
* picknick (archaic)

### Etymology

Borrowed from French pique-nique.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: pĭkʹ-nĭk, IPA: /ˈpɪknɪk/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪknɪk
* Hyphenation: pic‧nic
* Homophone: pyknic

### Noun

picnic (plural picnics)
* An informal social gathering, usually in a natural outdoor setting, to which the participants bring their own food and drink.
    We went out for a picnic in the forest.
* The meal eaten at such a gathering.
* (figurative) An easy or pleasant task.
    Synonym: piece of cake
    We remind the guests that dealing with this problem is no picnic, and to be patient.
** 1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC:"Don't put your hand on me," said Uncle Henry irritably. "I'm crawling with lice. War would be a picnic if it wasn't for lice and dysentery. […]
* (obsolete) An entertainment at which each person contributed some dish to a common table.
* A cut of pork from the shoulder area (above the front leg) of a pig.
** 1923, The National Provisioner, page 50:Smoked picnics of medium weights - from 6 to 8 pounds - are selling at wholesale at present for about half the price of fancy hams. Standard bacon of medium weights is another smoked product that is selling […]
** 1940, War Department Technical Manual, page 53:Smoked picnics (calas) are pork shoulders with the butt portion removed just beyond the knuckle bone. Shoulder butts are boneless […]
** 2001, Good Housekeeping, The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, Hearst Books, →ISBN, page 218:Smoked picnics are sold whole and usually fully cooked. When sold boneless they are called pork shoulder roll. COOKING HAMS AND PICNICS Roasting : Roast a fully cooked ham or picnic according to […]

#### Derived terms

* few sandwiches short of a picnic
* no picnic
* picnic basket
* picnic blanket
* picnic box
* picnic egg
* picnic ham
* picnicker
* picnic pie
* picnic sheet
* picnic shoulder
* picnic site
* picnic table
* steel beach picnic
* teddy bears' picnic

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: ピクニック (pikunikku)
* → Punjabi: ਪਿਕਨਿਕ (piknik)
* → Polish: piknik
* → Swahili: pikniki

#### See also

* packed lunch

### Verb

picnic (third-person singular simple present picnics, present participle picnicking, simple past and past participle picnicked)
* To take part in a picnic.
** 2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 71:And I'll never forget the chillingly instinctive racism. "Sure is pretty countryside. Pity it's spoiled by the niggers picknickin."

## Italian
### Etymology

Borrowed from English picnic, from French pique-nique.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

picnic m (invariable)
* picnic (outdoor meal)

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French pique-nique.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

picnic n (plural picnicuri)
* picnic

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from English picnic, from French pique-nique.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpiɡnik/ [ˈpiɣ̞.nik]
* Rhymes: -iɡnik
* Syllabification: pic‧nic

### Noun

picnic m (plural picnics)
* Misspelling of pícnic.