étiquette

Inherited from Middle French estiquette (“ticket, memorandum”), from Old French estiquette, from Old French estechier, estichier, estequier, estiquer (“to attach, stick”), (compare Picard estiquier (“to stick, pierce”)), from Frankish *stekan, *stikkan, *stikjan (“to stick, pierce, sting”), from Proto-Germanic *stikaną, *stikōną, *staikijaną (“to be sharp, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tig-, *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp, to stab, to goad, to puncture”). Akin to Old High German stehhan (“to stick, attach, nail”) (German stechen (“to stick”)),Old English stician (“to pierce, stab, be fastened”). The French Court of Louis XIV at Versailles used étiquettes, "little cards", to remind courtiers to keep off the grass and similar rules, hence the sense of “rule”. More at English stick (verb), stitch.