English
etiquette
Etiquette comes from French étiquette ‘property, a little piece of paper, or a mark…’, from Middle French estiquette ‘ticket, memorandum’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- ‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teyg-‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stikaną‘to stab’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*stekanreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400atachieras estachier‘to attach’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600estacher‘to stick’
- Middle French, derivedc. 1400–1600estiquette‘ticket, memorandum’variant of estacher
- Frenchc. 1600–presentétiquette‘property, a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle’
- Englishearliest quotation 2003etiquette
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teyg-‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stikaną‘to stab’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*stekanreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400atachieras estachier‘to attach’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600estacher‘to stick’
- Middle French, derivedc. 1400–1600estiquette‘ticket, memorandum’variant of estacher
- Frenchc. 1600–presentétiquette‘property, a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle’
- Englishearliest quotation 2003etiquette
Earliest quotation: 2003, Yoko Ogawa: “Whenever Root would put his elbows on the table…”
The story
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, *stikkjan (‘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’). 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.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- ‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’
style, tiger, stigma, stylus, instigate, tigress, stiletto, 9 more
through Proto-Germanic *stikaną ‘to stab’
stock, stick, stitch, shtick, schtick, 3 more
through Old French atachier ‘to attach’
attack, attachment, attach, detachment, detach, staccato, 1 more
Today it means
noun The manners or decent behaviour to be observed in social or professional life; conventional decorum; the ceremonial code of polite society.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- / etiquette