Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “piquet” come from?

Piquet derives from French piquet, which comes from French piquer, meaning to prick or pierce, traced through Middle French picquer and Old French piquer to Vulgar Latin piccare, Frankish pikkōn, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European (s)peyk-.

piquet (English): A game at cards played between two persons, with...

Definitions

  1. A game at cards played between two persons, with...

Ancestry of “piquet”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchpiquetpicket; A school punishment in which a student...
2Frenchpiquerto prick; to sting; to nick, pinch, steal
3Middle Frenchpicquerto sting
4Old Frenchpiquerto pierce with the tip of a sword
5Vulgar Latinpiccareto puncture; to sting, strike; to pierce
6Frankishpikkōnto peck, strike
7Proto-Germanicpikōną—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanbew-"low-pitch humming noise"
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bew- →