what is the origin of the word picnic?

Answer 1

French pique-nique, probably reduplication of piquer, to pick.

Answer 2

In contemporary usage, picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors, ideally, taking place in a beautiful landscape. Picnics are often family-oriented but can also be an intimate occasion between two people, a romantic picnic, or a large get together, company picnics and church picnics.

On romantic and family picnics a picnic basket and a blanket are usually brought along. Outdoor games or some other form of entertainment are common at large picnics. Large picnics can also be referred to as barbeques.

Formerly, picnic meant a potluck, an entertainment at which each person contributed some dish to a common table for all to share. The first usage of the word was traced to a 16th century French text, describing a group of people dining in a restaurant who brought their own wine. The word picnic is based on the verb piquer which means 'pick' or 'peck' with the rhyming nique meaning "thing of little importance".

The 1692 edition of Origines de la Langue Françoise de Ménage, which mentions 'pique-nique' as being of recent origin, marks the first appearance of the word in print. The word picnic first appeared in English texts in the mid-1700s, and may have entered the English language from this French word or from the German Picknick.

Answer 3

What is the origin on the word picnic?

You may have read the gossip sweeping the Internet on the origin of the word picnic. Some claim that picnic is derived from lynching parties of blacks. This is incorrect.

Instead, the origin on the word picnic is French (piquenique) and was invented long before the atrocities towards blacks took place in America. This French word - piquenique - signifies an outing with food - similar to the word's meaning in English. At these piqueniques, the attendees would all bring food to the occasion, similar to what we call potlucks today. The outdoor concept of a picnic did not originate until the 19th century.

So, how did this word originate? We are unsure what the word pique actually means. There are two options: leisurely eating (picking) or a delicacy of food. Nique was selected since it rhymed with Pique.

Historians have found this French word in references outside of the French language as early as 1748 and into English by around 1800.

Answer 4

The English word [first introduced in our language in 1748] is from the French "pique-nique." "Pique" comes from the French verb, "piquer," meaning "to pick." The "nique" actually means "little pieces." Thus, to the French, a "pique-nique" was a meal in which little pieces were picked. Instead of a lavish banquet or a seven-course dinner, a pique-nique was a small kind of meal in which people could choose their own "little pieces."

The English simply adopted the phrase, dropping the "ue" endings and changing each "q" to a "c."

Answer 5

The word is said to have been create by the French in the 17th century by way of Germany. When the word started being used in English it was in the 18th century. And it pretty much means what it stand for today meals eaten out doors. and you pick at it and ate it with your fingers......... The french pronounce it pique-nique.....

Answer 6

german picknick or french