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United States a " picket " is synonymous with a sentry, and the " picket-line " is the extreme advanced line of observation of an army. In the French army picquets are called " See also:

GRAND

grand' gardes," and the phrase " grand guard " is often met with in See also:

ENGLISH

English military See also:

WORKS

works of the 17th and 18th centuries. A See also:

BODY

body of soldiers held in readiness for military or See also:

POLICE (Fr. police, government, civil administration, a police force, Gr. sroXumeia, constitution, condition of a state, roars, city, state)

police duties within the limits of a See also:

CAMP (from Lat. campus, field)

camp or See also:

barracks is also called a picquet or " inlying picquet." These See also:

SPECIAL

special uses of the word in English are apparently quite See also:

MODERN

modern (after about 175o). " Picket " in its See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary meaning of a peg or stake, has always been in See also:

COMMON

common military use, being applied variously to the See also:

PICKETING

picketing pegs in See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse-lines, to See also:

long pointed stakes employed in palisades or stockades, to straight thin rods used for marking out the line of See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire for guns, &c. Of the various spellings " picquet " is officially adopted in Great Britain and " picket " in the United States, but the latter is now invariably used when a peg or stake is meant. Two obsolete meanings of the word should also be mentioned. The " picket " was a See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of military See also:

PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment in See also:

VOGUE, EUGENE MELCHIOR, COMTE DE (1848- )

vogue in the 16th and 17th centuries, which consisted in the offender being forced to stand on the narrow See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top of a peg for a See also:

period of See also:

time. The punishment died out in the 18th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century and was so far unfamiliar by 'Soo that See also:

Sir See also:

Thomas See also:

PICTON, SIR

Picton, who ordered a See also:

MULATTO (Span. and Port. mulato, diminutive of mulo, Lat. mulus, a mule, used as denoting a hybrid origin)

mulatto woman to be so punished, was accused by public See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion in See also:

England of inflicting a See also:

TORTURE (from Lat. torquere, to twist)

torture akin to impalement. It was thought, in fact, that the prisoner was forced to stand on the See also:

head of a pointed stake, and this See also:

ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

error is repeated in the New English See also:

DICTIONARY

Dictionary. In the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the 19th century, when elongated See also:

RIFLE

rifle bullets were a novelty, they were often, and especially in See also:

AMERICA

America, called pickets.

The ordinary military use of the word gives rise to See also:

compound forms such as " picket See also:

BOAT (0. Eng. bdt; the true etymological connexion with Dutch and Ger. boot, Fr. bateau, Ital. battello presents great difficulties; Celtic forms are from O. Eng.)

boat " or " picket See also:

LAUNCH

launch," large See also:

steam launch or See also:

PINNACE

pinnace fitted with guns•and torpedoes, and employed for watching the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of harbours, &c. For picketing in strikes, &c., see below.

End of Article: PICKET, PIQUET

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