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Webster 1913 Edition

Etiquette

Et′i-quetteˊ

,
Noun.
[F. prop., a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle, expressing its contents, a label, ticket, OF.
estiquete
, of German origin; cf. LG.
stikke
peg, pin, tack,
stikken
to stick, G.
stecken
. See
Stick
, and cf.
Ticket
.]
The forms required by good breeding, 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.
The pompous
etiquette
to the court of Louis the Fourteenth.
Prescott.

Definition 2024

etiquette

etiquette

See also: étiquette

English

Noun

A Thai airmail etiquette

etiquette ‎(plural etiquettes)

  1. The forms required by good breeding, 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.
  2. The customary behavior of members of a profession, business, law, or sports team towards each other.
  3. 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.

Related terms

Translations

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: eti‧quet‧te

Etymology

Borrowing from French étiquette ‎(“property, label, ticket”).

Noun

etiquette f, m ‎(uncountable)

  1. etiquette

Synonyms

See also

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 *stikkan, *stikjan ‎(“to stick, pierce, sting”), from Proto-Germanic *stikaną, *stikōną, *staikijaną ‎(“to be sharp, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *st(e)ig-, *(s)teig- ‎(“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, "little cards", to remind courtiers to keep off of the grass and similar rules. More at stick (verb), stitch.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɛtɪkɛt/, /ˈɛtɪkɪt/

Similar Results