etiquette
n. uncountablen. the set of rules for polite behavior in a group or situation. It helps you know how to act so you do not offend others.
n. the customary code of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group.
Good phone etiquette means not texting during a dinner party.
Business etiquette in this country requires you to exchange business cards with both hands and a slight bow.
While the core principles of social etiquette remain constant, the specific protocols for digital communication continue to evolve as new platforms emerge and social norms shift.
1740, from French étiquette (“property, a little piece of paper, or a mark or title, affixed to a bag or bundle, expressing its contents, a label, ticket”), from Middle French estiquette (“ticket, memorandum”), from the Old French verb estechier, estichier, estequier (“to attach, stick”), (compare Picard estiquier (“to stick, pierce”)), from Frankish stekan, stikkjan (“to stick, pierce, sting”), from Proto-Germanic stikaną, stikōną, staikijaną (“to be sharp, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European (s)teyg- (“to be sharp, to stab”). 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 (literally “little cards”) to remind courtiers to keep off of the grass and similar rules. More at stick (verb) and stitch. Doublet of ticket.
Usually uncountable when referring to the general concept of polite behavior; can be countable when referring to specific sets of rules.