Noun

etiquette (plural etiquettes)

1. The forms required by good breeding, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or official life; observance of the proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum; ceremonial code of polite society.
2. The customary behavior of members of a profession, business, law, or sports team towards each other.
3. A label used to indicate that a letter is to be sent by airmail.

Quotations

• 1885, Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado

  If you think we are worked by strings, / Like a Japanese marionette, / You don't understand these things / It is simply Court etiquette.

• 2001, Eric R. Wolf, Sydel Silverman, Aram A. Yengoyan, Pathways of Power: Building an Anthropology of the Modern World, page 182

  These then influence other groups, who recut and reshape their patterns of interpersonal etiquettes to fit those utilized by the tone-setting group.

Related terms

• etiquettal

Etiquette (pronounced [,eti'ket]) is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group. The French word étiquette, signifying ticket (of admission, etc.) first appeared in English in 1750.

Rules of etiquette

Rules of etiquette encompass most aspects of social interaction in any society, though the term itself is not commonly used. A rule of etiquette may reflect an underlying ethical code, or it may reflect a person's fashion or status. Rules of etiquette are usually unwritten, but aspects of etiquette have been codified from time to time.