Chicanery is a fascinating term that denotes deception or trickery, particularly within political or corporate contexts. Its English usage dates back to 1589, when it was spelled chicanerie. Variations of the term during that period included chicannery, chiquanerey, chiquanery, among others; however, the modern spelling was standardized in the late seventeenth century, with its peak usage in the 1760s. The term was borrowed from the French word chicanerie, which meant “trickery” in a general sense. This French word originated from the verb chicaner, meaning “to quibble”, with its exact etymology remaining uncertain. The most plausible theory suggests a connection to the Middle Low German word schicken, which translates to “arrange”. This Middle Low German word can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic term skikkijana and the Proto-Indo-European reconstruction skeg, which roughly translates to “jump”.