English
lettre de cachet
Lettre de cachet comes from French lettre de cachet.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlettre de cachet
- Englishearliest quotation 1751same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlettre de cachet
- Englishearliest quotation 1751same form
Earliest quotation: 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […]: “I lost my temper, and spoke so irreverently of…”
Every English word from French lettre de cachet
Today it means
noun A warrant issued by the monarch in ancien régime France, especially one which imprisons someone without trial.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French lettre de cachet / lettre de cachet