Where does “picket” come from?
Picket comes from French piquet, derived from French piquer and Middle French picquer, from Old French piquer, from Vulgar Latin piccare, from Frankish pikkōn, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)peyk-, meaning to pierce or prick.
picket (English): A stake driven into the ground; A type of...
Definitions
- A stake driven into the ground; A type of...
Ancestry of “picket”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | piquet | picket; A school punishment in which a student... |
| 2 | French | piquer | to prick; to sting; to nick, pinch, steal |
| 3 | Middle French | picquer | to sting |
| 4 | Old French | piquer | to pierce with the tip of a sword |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | piccare | to puncture; to sting, strike; to pierce |
| 6 | Frankish | pikkōn | to peck, strike |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | pikōną | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bew- | "low-pitch humming noise" |