etiquette English · revision 2248

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɛt.ɪˌkɛt/, /ˈɛt.ɪ.kɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|étiquette|t=prescribed behaviour]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from Old French ''estiquette'' “label, ticket”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''estiquier'' “to attach, stick”, of Germanic origin.^(RHWU) It is thus the same word as [[ticket]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Used as a French word for prescribed behaviour (1750).^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) 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).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ How a word for a label or ticket came to mean rules of behaviour is not certain.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) One suggestion is the small cards with instructions for proper conduct at court;^(Etymonline) another is the directions written on a soldier's billet for lodgings, the main sense of the Old French word.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The French sense “label” was itself occasionally used in English (1867).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1750 – prescribed conduct; professional etiquette.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1771 – a rule of etiquette (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1867 – a label.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The conventional rules of behaviour in polite society or on particular occasions.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A code of ceremony and official conduct, as at a court.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)

+ # The code of conduct among members of a profession in their dealings with each other.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[netiquette]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ticket]]

+ * [[stick]]

+ * [[protocol]]

+ * [[decorum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

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

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}