Etymograph

English

etiquette

Etiquette comes from French étiquette ‘property, a little piece of paper, or a mark…’, from Middle French estiquette ‘ticket, memorandum’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- ‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teyg-1‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stikaną2‘to stab’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*stekan2reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400atachier3as estachier‘to attach’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600estacher4‘to stick’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600estiquette5‘ticket, memorandum’variant of estacher
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentétiquette5‘property, a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2003etiquette5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *stikaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French atachier
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Middle French estacher
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Middle French estiquette
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English etiquette
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2003, Yoko Ogawa: “Whenever Root would put his elbows on the table…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teyg-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *stikaną‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stikanąWiktionary, Old French atachier‘to stab’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*stekanWiktionary, Old French atachierreconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400atachierWiktionary, Middle French estacheras estachier‘to attach’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600estacherWiktionary, Middle French estiquette‘to stick’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600estiquetteWiktionary, English etiquette‘ticket, memorandum’variant of estacher
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentétiquetteWiktionary, English etiquette‘property, a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2003etiquetteWiktionary, English etiquette. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2003, Yoko Ogawa: “Whenever Root would put his elbows on the table…”

The story

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’). 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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- ‘to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture’

style, tiger, stigma, stylus, instigate, tigress, stiletto, 9 more

through Proto-Germanic *stikaną ‘to stab’

stock, stick, stitch, shtick, schtick, 3 more

through Old French atachier ‘to attach’

attack, attachment, attach, detachment, detach, staccato, 1 more

Today it means

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

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “etiquette”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *stikaną, Old French atachier, Middle French estacher, Middle French estiquette. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- / etiquette

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