Piquet
/pɪˈkeɪ/noun
A card game for two players, traditionally played with a 32-card pack.
Did you know?Piquet became especially fashionable in early-modern Europe, where card games were associated with courtly calculation, coded signaling, and games of fortune.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*pikkōn
“To prick or pierce; a commonly proposed ancestor of the French verb behind piquet”
Old French
Old French
piquer
“To prick, pierce, or strike with a pointed object”
14th–15th Century
French
piquet
“A small pointed object or stake; a diminutive form associated with piquer”
16th Century
French
piquet
“The name of a card game; the exact reason for the game’s name is uncertain”
17th Century
English
piquet
“A fashionable card game adopted from French”
Modern English
English
piquet
“A two-player card game played with a reduced pack”