Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ET-I-QUET', n. [etiket'; Fr. etiquette, a ticket; W. tocyn, a little piece or slip, from tociaw, to cut off, Eng. to dock. Originally, a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle, expressing its contents.]

Primarily, an account of ceremonies. Hence, in present usage, forms of ceremony or decorum; the forms which are observed toward particular persons, or in particular places, especially in courts, levees, and on public occasions. From the original sense of the word, it may be inferred that it was formerly the custom to deliver cards containing orders for regulating ceremonies on public occasions.