Where does “piket” come from?

piket (Tetum) comes from Indonesian piket, from Dutch piket, from French piquet, from French piquer, from Middle French picquer, from Old French piquer, from Vulgar Latin piccare, from Frankish pikkōn — "low-pitch humming noise".

piket (Tetum): duty officer, person on-call

Definitions

  1. duty officer, person on-call

Ancestry of “piket”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Indonesianpiketwatch, a period of time on duty
2Dutchpiket
3Frenchpiquetpicket; A school punishment in which a student...
4Frenchpiquerto prick; to sting; to nick, pinch, steal
5Middle Frenchpicquerto sting
6Old Frenchpiquerto pierce with the tip of a sword
7Vulgar Latinpiccareto puncture; to sting, strike; to pierce
8Frankishpikkōnto peck, strike
9Proto-Germanicpikōną
10Proto-Indo-Europeanbew-"low-pitch humming noise"
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bew-Every word from Proto-Germanic pikōnąEvery word from Frankish pikkōn
piket — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer