Chic
mid 19th century: from French, probably from German Schick ‘skill’.
wiktionary
Borrowed from French chic(“elegant”), probably from German Schick(“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”), from Middle High German schicken(“to outfit oneself, fit in, arrange appropriately”), causative of Middle High German geschehen, geschēn(“to happen, rush”), from Old High German giskehan(“to happen”), from Proto-Germanic *skehaną(“to run, move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek-(“to run, jump, spring”). The word is akin to Dutch schielijk(“hasty”), schikken(“to arrange”), Old English scēon(“to happen”).
Borrowed from Yucatec Maya chiʼik(“coati; buffoon”).
etymonline
chic (n.)
1856, "style in fine art, artistic skill, faculty of producing excellence rapidly and easily," from French chic "stylishness" (19c.), originally "subtlety" (16c.), which is of unknown origin. Perhaps [Klein] it is related to German Schick, Geschick "tact, skill, aptness," from Middle Low German schikken "arrange appropriately," or Middle High German schicken "to arrange, set in order." Or perhaps it is from French chicane, from chicanerie "trickery" (see chicanery).
Meaning "Parisian elegance and stylishness combined with originality" is by 1882 ("Pall Mall Gazette," 1888, calls it "an untranslatable word, denoting an indispensable quality"). As an adjective, in reference to persons, "stylish," 1879 in English. "Not so used in F[rench]" [OED].
