Etymograph

English

piquette

Piquette comes from French piquette ‘a drink of marc and water’, from piquer ‘to prick’, and ultimately from Middle French picquer ‘to sting’.

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600picquer1‘to sting’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentpiquer2‘to prick’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentpiquette3‘a drink of marc and water’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1879piquette3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French piquer
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French piquette
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English piquette
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1879, Phebe Earle Gibbons, French and Belgians: “At dinner Pierre takes a glass of piquette, saying…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600picquerWiktionary, French piquer‘to sting’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentpiquerWiktionary, French piquette‘to prick’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentpiquetteWiktionary, English piquette‘a drink of marc and water’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1879piquetteWiktionary, English piquette. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1879, Phebe Earle Gibbons, French and Belgians: “At dinner Pierre takes a glass of piquette, saying…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bew-

bill, pick, bowl, pocket, pose, purse, bulletin, buckle, pout, bouillon, bulla, pock, 16 more

through Frankish *pikkōn

piquant, 6 more

through French piquer ‘to prick’

picket, picot, 6 more

Today it means

noun A drink of marc and water.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “piquette”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for French piquer, French piquette. 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 / Middle French picquer / piquette

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