What does piquet mean?
Piquet is a noun that most commonly denotes a two-player card game played with a 32-card deck. The players use a smaller pack than in many traditional games, scoring by capturing tricks and declaring combinations of cards. A player may win by taking the final trick or by having the higher score when play ends. Piquet is now uncommon in everyday conversation, but it remains familiar in discussions of card-game history and appears in older literary settings. It was also formerly spelled picquet. A rarer, largely historical sense refers to a small military picket or the post occupied by such a guard. Because both senses are compact and distinctive, piquet is especially useful when reading accounts of early modern card play, where its precise meaning may depend on the historical setting. Its French-derived name and compact 32-card format make it a memorable survival from an earlier age of card games.
nounPiquet is a card game for two players, traditionally played with a 32-card deck and won by taking the last trick or by scoring the greater number of points. A rarer, largely historical sense refers to a small military picket or its post.
- A card game for two players, played with a 32-card deck and won by taking the final trick or by attaining the higher score.
- A small military picket or the post occupied by such a guard.
"After dinner, the two friends settled in for a game of piquet."
"After the children went to bed, the two friends settled in for a game of piquet."
"The regiment left a small piquet to guard the bridge."
The standard plural is “piquets,” used when referring to multiple games or instances of the card game.
"Several piquets were played during the evening."
Piquet fits an entire strategic card duel into just 32 cards.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does piquet come from?
The English word comes from French piquet, a diminutive of pic, meaning a point or peak, and is associated with piquer, “to prick.” The card game entered English during the early modern period and was formerly also spelled picquet. Related French-derived English words, including pique, piqué, and picot, belong to the same pic and piquer etymological family.
How piquet is actually used
The card-game sense is uncommon in everyday conversation but remains familiar in discussions of card-game history and in older literary contexts. The military sense is historical or specialized and is much rarer.
Easily confused with piquet
Piquet usually names a card game, whereas picket commonly denotes a guard, guard post, or the military practice of posting sentries.