Ticket and Etiquette Are the Same Word
A ticket admits you to something. It comes from the French word for a label, which also became etiquette, the rules written on a card.
A ticket admits you somewhere, or records a fine. It is the same word as *etiquette*: Old French *estiquette* meant a small note or label stuck up somewhere, and at the French court the label listing the rules of behaviour gave the word its second life. English clipped the front off one form and kept the whole of the other.
- A pass for entry or travel. *A return ticket.*
- A traffic fine. *A parking ticket.*
- A list of candidates (American). *The party ticket.*
- Just the ticket — exactly right. *A hot bath is just the ticket.*
- Etiquette — the same source. *Formal etiquette.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | ticket | A single ticket. |
| Plural | tickets | Two tickets. |
| Verb | ticket | The car was ticketed. |
| Compound | ticket office | The ticket office. |
| Doublet | etiquette | Court etiquette. |
- Tickets sold out in nine minutes.Events.
- He got a ticket for parking on the verge.Enforcement.
- That's just the ticket.British idiom: exactly what was needed.
How etiquette got its meaning
- Estiquette — a small posted note or label
- At the French court — cards set out the rules of correct behaviour
- The word transferred from the card to the rules on it
- English borrowed it twice — as ticket and as etiquette
- Same trick — a label giving its name to what it describes
A clipping of Old French *estiquet*, a note or label, from a Germanic verb meaning to stick. English recorded *ticket* in the 1520s and *etiquette* in the 1750s.
Are ticket and etiquette really the same word?
Yes. Both come from the Old French word for a label. English borrowed it twice, centuries apart, in different forms.
What does just the ticket mean?
Exactly what was wanted. It is British and informal, and dates from the nineteenth century.