Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The practices and forms prescribed by social convention or by authority.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A ticket or label, specifically one attached to a specimen of natural history.
- n. Conventional requirement or custom in regard to social behavior or observance; prescriptive usage, especially in polite society or for ceremonial intercourse; propriety of conduct as established in any class or community or for any occasion; good manners; polite behavior.
Wiktionary
- n. The forms required by good breeding, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or official life; observance of the proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum; ceremonial code of polite society.
- n. The customary behavior of members of a profession, business, law, or sports team towards each other.
- n. A label used to indicate that a letter is to be sent by airmail.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The forms required by good breeding, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or official life; observance of the proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum; ceremonial code of polite society.
WordNet 3.0
- n. rules governing socially acceptable behavior
Etymologies
- 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 Old French estiquette, from estechier, estichier, estequier "to attach, stick", (compare Picard estiquier "to stick, pierce"), from Frankish *stikkan, stikjan ("to stick, pierce, sting"), from Proto-Germanic *stikanan, *stikōnan, *staikijanan (“to be sharp, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *st(e)ig-, *(s)teig- (“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, "little cards", to remind courtiers to keep off of the grass and similar rules. More at stick (verb), stitch. (Wiktionary)
- French, from Old French estiquet, label; see ticket. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In one direction they lay upon us the bonds of what we call etiquette,”
“As you would expect in a country that came up with the word etiquette, it is easy for foreigners to commit faux pas in France.”
“And just like in other areas of our lives, etiquette is mandatory.”
“Office etiquette is not my forte and it always involves greeting people I don't really know ...”
“Is there a certain etiquette to tracking a deer when you know you're going to have to move through another hunters territory, let alone if you find the deer down 60 yards from his stand?”
“Bobulate parses contemporary uses of the salutation (via): posted by Andrew Simone in etiquette, language | * | comment”
“We will release a picture shortly. posted by Lucy Foley in etiquette, government, politics | * | 10 comments comments”
“They quickly turned back to their salads of iceberg lettuce with thousand island dressing, and I thought of how vastly lucky I was to be with a person who would do such a marvelous thing. posted by Deron Bauman in etiquette, family, food, religion | * | 2 comments comments”
“So the bagger relents, finally, and we leave, but I feel kind of bad about the whole thing. posted by Daryl Scroggins in etiquette, mental health, relationships, self-help | * | 11 comments comments”
“To modern eyes, the manual can seem overly conscious of presenting a positive image before whites, but otherwise, regarding gender roles, it is no different than what can be found in etiquette manuals aimed at the general populace.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘etiquette’.
-
Artistic words
Good for poetry, or just artistic on their own.
fluxus, gallant, kinetic, lurk, disengage, mist, agleam, voyeur, devoid, crimson, ebony, azure and 94 more...
-
• Senses
They told you they're five.
sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, proprioception, balance, temperature, parking, rhythm, business, snow and 68 more...
-
My woRdz...
layover, deet, etiquette, fondling, snog, dead letter office, lenient, severe, banter, grapple, sentiment, slacks and 1 more...
-
-ette
diminutive; female; substitute
dinette, suffragette, leatherette, baguette, bachelorette, brochette, casette, croquette, etiquette, gazette, launderette, leaflette and 2 more...
-
ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
-
mager's Words
enigmatic, pragmatic, pulchritudinous, nincompoop, annihilation, sociality, entailment, acrosome, egalitarian, culture, technocracy, shenanigan and 541 more...
-
The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
-
colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
-
know-it-all
eunuch, couvade, ecclesiastes, enigma, inevitable, crucible, genteel, bedlam, baculum, scapulimancy, atrophy, smut and 170 more...
-
List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
-
Aequoria's list
affect, deleterious, nuance, pliant, verbatim, pertinent, latter, municipality, provincial, voyeuristic, circumlocution, wane and 798 more...
-
Listless
Nowhere else to put these yet.
sibilant, cloying, pithy, apologia, odyssey, amanuensis, pleasantries, ginormous, burnish, sojourn, quonset, over-under and 217 more...
-
SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL E
ebb, ebullition, eccentric, ecclesiastical, echelon, éclat, eclectic, eclogue, ecstasy, ecumenical, edification, edify and 143 more...
-
dienekes's Words
chutzpah, lexicon, intrepid, pedagogical, schlemiel, schism, erudite, anathema, pugilist, jaunty, paradigm, automaton and 949 more...
-
lauren_inretrospective's list
words I adore....
ethereal, luminiscent, etiquette, surreal, plumage, feathery, vintage, jubilee, rouge, satin, fathom, height and 101 more...
-
Pretty words
Just to make me happy
Tweets
Looking for tweets for etiquette.
afredricks When traveling, it's important to be aware of the etiquette of the culture you will be visiting. May 20, 2009
ahuja.ankit Its double 't' at the end :) Feb 20, 2008
gangerh Knowing which fingers to put in your mouth when you whistle for the waiter. Feb 17, 2008