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piquet

or pic·quet

[pi-key, -ket]
noun
  1. a card game played by two persons with a pack of 32 cards, the cards from deuces to sixes being excluded.
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Origin of piquet

From French, dating back to 1640–50; see origin at pic2, -et
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for piquet

Historical Examples

  • Can you spare a day from the tennis-court, or an evening from piquet?

    Sir Jasper Carew

    Charles James Lever

  • I was only going to say that he gave me a pack of cards; would you like a game of piquet?

    The Rescue

    Joseph Conrad

  • Often through compliance I played at piquet with my husband.

    The Autobiography of Madame Guyon

    Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon

  • Maurice and piquet—then the widow and the divorcée for dinner—and now alone again!

    Man and Maid

    Elinor Glyn

  • He thanks you not, his pride is in piquet, Newmarket-fame, and judgment at a bet.

    Essay on Man

    Alexander Pope

British Dictionary definitions for piquet

piquet

noun
  1. a card game for two people playing with a reduced pack and scoring points for card combinations and tricks won
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Word Origin

C17: from French, of unknown origin; compare pique ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for piquet

n.

card game, 1640s, from French piquet, picquet (16c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps a diminutive of pic "pick, pickaxe, pique," from phrase faire pic, a term said to be used in the game.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper