etiquette

Definition

The manners or decent behaviour to be observed in social or professional life; conventional decorum; the ceremonial code of polite society.

Etymology

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”). Akin to Old High German stehhan (“to stick, attach, nail”) (German stechen (“to stick”)), Old English stician (“to pierce, stab, be fastened”). 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. More at stick (verb) and stitch. Doublet of ticket.

Example Sentences

• "20 May 2018, Hadley Freeman in The Guardian, Is Meghan Markle the American the royals have needed all along? Much shock was expressed in the British press about the Palace’s utter failure to control the Markles and the Markles’ lack of etiquette."
• "Whenever Root would put his elbows on the table or clatter his dishes or commit any other breach of etiquette, the Professor would gently correct him."
• "Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune."