etiquette
English
Etymology
1740, from French étiquette (“property, a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle, expressing its contents, a label, ticket”), from Middle French estiquette (“ticket, memorandum”), from the Old French verb estechier, estichier, estequier (“to attach, stick”), (compare Picard estiquier (“to stick, pierce”)), from Frankish *stekan, *stikkan, *stikjan (“to stick, pierce, sting”), from Proto-Germanic *stikaną, *stikōną, *staikijaną (“to be sharp, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp, to stab”).
Akin to Old High German stehhan (“to stick, attach, nail”) (German stechen (“to stick”)), Old English stician (“to pierce, stab, be fastened”).
The French Court of Louis XIV at Versailles used étiquettes (literally “little cards”) to remind courtiers to keep off of the grass and similar rules. More at stick (verb) and stitch. Doublet of ticket.
Pronunciation
Noun
etiquette (countable and uncountable, plural etiquettes)
- The forms required by a good upbringing, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or official life; observance of the proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum; ceremonial code of polite society.
- 20 May 2018, Hadley Freeman in The Guardian, Is Meghan Markle the American the royals have needed all along?
- Much shock was expressed in the British press about the Palace’s utter failure to control the Markles and the Markles’ lack of etiquette.
- 2003, Yoko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the Professor:
- Whenever Root would put his elbows on the table or clatter his dishes or commit any other breach of etiquette, the Professor would gently correct him.
- 20 May 2018, Hadley Freeman in The Guardian, Is Meghan Markle the American the royals have needed all along?
- The customary behavior of members of a profession, business, law, or sports team towards each other.
- 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
- Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune.
- 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
- A label used to indicate that a letter is to be sent by airmail.
Quotations
- 1885, Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado
- If you think we are worked by strings, / Like a Japanese marionette, / You don't understand these things / It is simply Court etiquette.
- 2001, Eric R. Wolf, Sydel Silverman, Aram A. Yengoyan, Pathways of Power: Building an Anthropology of the Modern World, page 182
- These then influence other groups, who recut and reshape their patterns of interpersonal etiquettes to fit those utilized by the tone-setting group.
Derived terms
Translations
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See also
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “etiquette”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from French étiquette (“property, label, ticket”), from Middle French [Term?].
Pronunciation
Noun
etiquette f (uncountable)
Synonyms
Related terms
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English doublets
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Ethics
- en:Human behaviour
- Dutch terms borrowed from French
- Dutch terms derived from French
- Dutch terms derived from Middle French
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Dutch/ɛtə
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch uncountable nouns
- Dutch feminine nouns