Food & drinkMyths & disputes

picnic

French pique-nique (1690s) was a meal to which everyone brought a share, probably a rhyming jingle on piquer 'to pick, peck' plus nique 'a trifle'. German, Swedish, Dutch and Russian took it from French; English borrowed it in the 18th century, outdoor eating came later, and English then gave it to Spanish and Japanese.

Weakest linkCertain

The story you may have heard

That it comes from a racist phrase about lynchings. This internet rumour has no basis: the word is a French coinage of the 1690s about shared food.

The road to English

From French to German

From French to Swedish

From French to Dutch

From French to Russian

From English to American English

From English to Spanish

From English to Japanese

1692French

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

Export “picnic”

Embed “picnic”

Save “picnic”

Export “picnic”

Embed “picnic”

Save “picnic”