Where does “chicanery” come from?

Chicanery comes from French chicanerie, derived from French chicaner, traced to Proto-Germanic skikkijaną and Proto-Indo-European skeg-.

chicanery (English): Deception by use of trickery, quibbling, or...

Definitions

  1. Deception by use of trickery, quibbling, or...

Ancestry of “chicanery”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchchicanerieniggling; hairsplitting
2Frenchchicanerto get into an argument; to quibble, squabble
3Middle Frenchchicaner—
4Middle Low Germanschicken—
5Old Saxon*skikkian—
6Proto-Germanic*skikkijan—

Words derived from “chicanery”

Every word from Proto-Germanic *skikkijan →Every word from Old Saxon *skikkian →Every word from Middle Low German schicken →