'peckish' originates from English, specifically formed from the verb 'peck' plus the suffix '-ish', where 'peck' meant 'to strike or pick at with the beak; to eat in small bites' and '-ish' meant 'having the quality of'.

'peckish' changed from Early Modern English usage (recorded from the early 17th century) meaning 'disposed to peck' or 'irritable', and eventually developed the modern colloquial sense 'slightly hungry' by the late 18th to early 19th century.

Initially, it meant 'irritable or inclined to peck', but over time it evolved into its common modern meaning of 'slightly hungry'.