Advertisement

Origin and history of chicanery

chicanery(n.)

c. 1610s, "legal quibbling, sophistry, mean or petty tricks," from French chicanerie "trickery," from chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle Low German schikken "to arrange, bring about," or from the name of a golf-like game once played in Languedoc. Also compare French chic "small, little," as a noun "a small piece; finesse, subtlety." Thornton's "American Glossary" has shecoonery (1845), which it describes as probably a corruption of chicanery.

also from c. 1610s

Entries linking to chicanery

chic(n.)

1856, "style in fine art, artistic skill, faculty of producing excellence rapidly and easily," from French chic "stylishness" (19c.), originally "subtlety" (16c.), which is of unknown origin. Perhaps [Klein] it is related to German Schick, Geschick "tact, skill, aptness," from Middle Low German schikken "arrange appropriately," or Middle High German schicken "to arrange, set in order." Or perhaps it is from French chicane, from chicanerie "trickery" (see chicanery).

The meaning "Parisian elegance and stylishness combined with originality" is by 1882 (Pall Mall Gazette, Sept. 6, 1888, uses the word in a concert review and pauses to define it as "an untranslatable word, denoting an indispensable quality"). As an adjective, in reference to persons, "stylish," 1879 in English. "Not so used in F[rench]" [OED].

chicane(n.)

a word used in English in various senses, including "act of chicanery, art of gaining advantage by using evasions or cheating tricks" (1670s), also "obstacles on a roadway" (by 1935), also a term in bridge (1880s), apparently all ultimately from an archaic verb chicane "to trick" (1670s), from French chicane "trickery" (16c.), from chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c., see chicanery).

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    guile
    mid-12c., from Old French guile "deceit, wile, fraud, ruse, trickery," probably from Frankish *wigila "trick, ruse" or a related Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *wih-l- (source also of Old Frisian wigila "sorcery, witchcraft," Old English wig "idol," Gothic weihs "holy," Ger
    shenanigan
    "nonsense; deceit, humbug," 1855, American English slang, of uncertain origin. Earliest records of it are in California (San Francisco and Sacramento). Suggestions include Spanish chanada, a shortened form of charranada "trick, deceit;" or, less likely, German Schenigelei, peddle
    deceit
    c. 1300, "trickery, treachery, lying," from Old French deceite, fem. past participle of deceveir, decevoir, from Latin decipere "to ensnare, take in, beguile, cheat," from de "from" or pejorative (see de-) + capere "to take," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." From mid-14c. as "act
    dissimulation
    late 14c., dissimulacioun, "concealment of reality under a diverse or contrary appearance," from Old French dissimulation (12c.) and directly from Latin dissimulationem (nominative dissimulatio) "a disguising, concealment, dissembling," noun of action from past-participle stem of
    put-on
    "ruse, deception," 1937, from earlier adjectival meaning "assumed, feigned" (1620s), a figurative extension of the verbal phrase on the notion of putting on costumes or disguises. To put on (v.), of clothes, garments, etc., is by early 15c.; see from put (v.) + on (adv.). Hence "
    deception
    early 15c., decepcioun, "act of misleading, a lie, a falsehood," from Old French déception (13c., decepcion) or directly from Late Latin deceptionem (nominative deceptio) "a deceiving," noun of state or action from past-participle stem of Latin decipere "to ensnare, take in, begu
    humbug
    1751, in Oxford and Cambridge student slang, "a trick, jest, hoax, imposition, deception," a word of unknown origin; it also appeared simultaneously as a transitive verb, "deceive by false pretext." A vogue word of the early 1750s; its origin was a subject of much whimsical specu
    connotation
    early 15c., "a concommitant symptom;" 1530s, "a secondary signification, that which is included in the meaning of a word besides its primary denotation," from Medieval Latin connotationem (nominative connotatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of connotare "signify in a
    hygiene
    1670s, from French hygiène, ultimately from Greek hygieine techne "the healthful art," from hygies "healthy, sound, hearty," literally "living well" (personified as the goddess Hygieia), from PIE *eyu-gwie-es- "having a vigorous life," from root *aiw-, *ayu- "vital force, life, l
    obelisk
    "tapering rectangular stone column with a pyramidal apex," 1560s, from French obélisque (16c.) and directly from Latin obeliscus "obelisk, small spit," from Greek obeliskos "small spit, obelisk, leg of a compass," diminutive of obelos "a spit, pointed pillar, needle, broach; obel

    Share chicanery

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near chicanery
    Advertisement