etiquette

[et-i-kit, -ket] /ˈɛt ɪ kɪt, -ˌkɛt/
noun
1.
conventional requirements as to social behavior; proprieties of conduct as established in any class or community or for any occasion.
2.
a prescribed or accepted code of usage in matters of ceremony, as at a court or in official or other formal observances.
3.
the code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other:
medical etiquette.
Origin
1740-50; < French étiquette, Middle French estiquette ticket, memorandum, derivative of estiqu(i)er to attach, stick < Germanic. See stick2, -ette
Synonyms
1. Etiquette, decorum, propriety imply observance of the formal requirements governing behavior in polite society. Etiquette refers to conventional forms and usages: the rules of etiquette. Decorum suggests dignity and a sense of what is becoming or appropriate for a person of good breeding: a fine sense of decorum. Propriety (usually plural) implies established conventions of morals and good taste: She never fails to observe the proprieties.
Examples from the web for etiquette
  • Yet blacks have a long history of manners, etiquette, dressing well.
  • She educates her customers about traditional sushi etiquette, using clever comparisons to southern manners.
  • etiquette must, if it is to be of more than trifling use, include ethics as well as manners.
  • Appropriate social behavior was highly prized, and rules for behavior were written about extensively in etiquette books.
  • Ample attention is given to the etiquette of play dates and sundry mysteries of the preschool universe.
  • Business etiquette and common sense seem to go hand-in-hand.
  • People should adopt good etiquette rather than having it forced on them.
  • She writes about cocktails, etiquette and how to organize truly wonderful dinner parties.
  • Granted, teenage manners rarely offer a model of etiquette.
  • Clearly, what is needed is a list of rules of etiquette.
British Dictionary definitions for etiquette

etiquette

/ˈɛtɪˌkɛt; ˌɛtɪˈkɛt/
noun
1.
the customs or rules governing behaviour regarded as correct or acceptable in social or official life
2.
a conventional but unwritten code of practice followed by members of any of certain professions or groups: medical etiquette
Word Origin
C18: from French, from Old French estiquette label, from estiquier to attach; see stick²
Word Origin and History for etiquette
n.

1750, from French étiquette "prescribed behavior," from Old French estiquette "label, ticket" (see ticket).

The sense development in French perhaps is from small cards written or printed with instructions for how to behave properly at court (cf. Italian etichetta, Spanish etiqueta), and/or from behavior instructions written on a soldier's billet for lodgings (the main sense of the Old French word).

Encyclopedia Article for etiquette

system of rules and conventions that regulate social and professional behaviour. In any social unit there are accepted rules of behaviour upheld and enforced by legal codes; there are also norms of behaviour mandated by custom and enforced by group pressure. An offender faces no formal trial or sentence for breach of etiquette; the penalty lies in the disapproval of other members of the group. Regardless of its level of material culture, any highly stratified society will possess an etiquette in which every person knows the behaviour expected from him toward others and from others toward himself.

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