Etymologically
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étiquette

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /e.ti.kɛt/[1]

Forms

étiquette f (plural étiquettes)[1] Estiquette (1387), étiquette (1660, Oudin); also étiquet.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is derived with “-ette” from the Old French verb “estechier”, “estichier” (early 13th century), Picard “estequier”, “estiquier” (about 1180) “to thrust in, pierce; to attach”,[5][3][6][7] from Frankish *stikkjan, a variant of “*stikkan” “to pierce” (compare Dutch stikken), related to Latin “stilus” and Greek “stizein” “to prick” (see style, stigmate).[3][8] Littré rejected the old explanation from “hic est quaestio”, words supposedly written on legal bags.[4]

The sense “ceremonial” is borrowed back from Spanish etiqueta, itself from French.[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A pardon letter of 1387 has estiquette for a post driven into the ground as a target in games (aux grans billes à ferir en l'estiquete).[5][4][3]

Semantic evolution

By extension, perhaps because some posts bore an inscription, it was a label showing the contents of a bag of legal papers (1435) and, in the 15th–16th centuries, a list of witnesses, juger sur l'étiquette (du sac) “to judge by appearances” goes back to 1585–1660.[5][3][10] From 1580 it was a slip fixed to an object to show its nature or price, the dominant modern sense, and, from 1870 figuratively a political or ideological label.[3][10]

At the court of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, the word named the written schedule of the day; the word and the custom passed to Vienna through the marriage of Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian, then to Madrid.[6][3] French used it in 1607 of the court of Vienna, and Mme d'Aulnoy (1691) of les étiquettes du Palais in Spain; it then meant the ceremonial of a court, especially Versailles, and in the 18th century formal manners between private people (être à cheval sur l'étiquette).[5][3][6] English etiquette was borrowed in 1750, and ticket is an earlier borrowing from Old French estiquette.[11][8] Étiqueter dates from 1564.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1180 – Picard estiquier.[3]
  • 1387 – Estiquette “target post”.[5]
  • 1435 – A label on a legal bag.[5]
  • 1564 – Étiqueter.[6]
  • 1580 – A label on an object.[3]
  • 1607 – Court ceremonial (Vienna).[6]
  • 1691 – Les étiquettes du Palais in Mme d'Aulnoy.[5]
  • 1750 – English etiquette.[11]
  • 1870 – A political label.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A label, tag: l'étiquette d'une bouteille, le prix est sur l'étiquette.[8][1]
  2. (figurative) A label (political, ideological): un candidat sans étiquette.[9][10]
  3. Etiquette, ceremonial, protocol: l'étiquette de la cour.[9][1]
  4. (computing) A label.[9]

Word family

  • étiqueter
  • étiqueter
  • étiquetage

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com