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etiquette

Etymology and origin of the English word etiquette

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Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
French étiquette

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɛt.ɪˌkɛt/, /ˈɛt.ɪ.kɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French étiquette (“prescribed behaviour”),[2][3][4][5] from Old French estiquette “label, ticket”,[2][4][5][6] from estiquier “to attach, stick”, of Germanic origin.[6] It is thus the same word as ticket.[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Used as a French word for prescribed behaviour (1750).[4][3][5] The OED's first dated sense is the unwritten code by which members of a profession, especially medicine and law, are forbidden certain conduct (1750).[7]

Semantic evolution

How a word for a label or ticket came to mean rules of behaviour is not certain.[4][5] One suggestion is the small cards with instructions for proper conduct at court;[5] another is the directions written on a soldier's billet for lodgings, the main sense of the Old French word.[4][5] The French sense “label” was itself occasionally used in English (1867).[7]

Timeline

  • 1750 – prescribed conduct; professional etiquette.[7][4][3]
  • 1771 – a rule of etiquette (obsolete).[7]
  • 1867 – a label.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The conventional rules of behaviour in polite society or on particular occasions.
  2. A code of ceremony and official conduct, as at a court.
  3. The code of conduct among members of a profession in their dealings with each other.

Word family

  • netiquette
  • ticket
  • stick
  • protocol
  • decorum

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary compares etiquette, propriety, protocol and decorum.[2] Etiquette and the plural proprieties denote the forms of conduct prescribed in polite society;[2] protocol is the official etiquette of affairs of state, and now often any code of correct conduct;[2] decorum and the singular propriety denote conformity with accepted standards of behaviour.[2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Etiquette.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/etiquette. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·