E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Chic.
Fashionable; comme il faut; the mode. This is an archaic French word in vogue in the seventeenth century. It really is the Spanish chico, little, also a little boy, and chica, a little girl or darling. Similarly, wee in Scotch is a loving term of admiration and pride. (Chic is an abbreviation of the German geschickt, apt, clever.)
1
“J’use de mots de l’art, je met en marge hic;
J’espere avec le tems que j’entendrai le chic.”
Les Satyres de Du Lorens, xii. p. 97.
Avoir le chic. To have the knack of doing the thing smartly.
2
Chicard and chicandard = elegant, de grand style, are very common expressions with artists.
