Etymologically
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bonnet

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈbɒnɪt/ (UK); /ˈbɑnɪt/, /ˈbɑnət/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bonet,[2][3][4] from Old French bonet,[2][5][6] originally the name of a cloth used for hats, in the phrase chapel de bonet “cap of bonet”.[5][6] The French word is from Medieval Latin bonetum or bonetus “material for hats”,[5][6] which is probably of Germanic origin.[2][3][5] Etymonline and Random House connect it with Late Latin abonnis “a kind of cap”,[6][4] and Merriam-Webster with Old English bindan “to bind”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A brimless cap worn by men, in Scottish use (1375).[5][7]

Semantic evolution

The bonnet was first a soft man's cap, which in England was replaced by the hat but survived in Scotland.[7][3] As a women's outdoor headdress it is attested from the late 15th century.[6][7] The name was applied to several covers: an extra strip of canvas laced to a sail (1399),[7] and from 1862 mechanical covers,[6] including, in British use, the hood of a car.[2][3][1]

Timeline

  • 1375 – a man's brimless cap, in Scottish use.[5][7]
  • 1399 – an extra piece of canvas laced to a sail.[7]
  • 1499 – a woman's outdoor headdress.[7][6]
  • 1815 – bonnet rouge, the red cap of the French revolutionaries.[7]
  • 1858 – verb, to put a bonnet on.[3][7]
  • 1862 – a mechanical cover.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A hat of cloth or straw tied under the chin, worn by women and children.
  2. (chiefly Scottish) A brimless woollen cap worn by men and boys.
  3. (British) The hood of a car.
  4. A metal cover, as over a valve or on a chimney.
  5. A strip of canvas laced to a sail to increase its area.

Verb

  1. To put a bonnet on.

Word family

  • bonnetless
  • sunbonnet
  • Scotch bonnet
  • war bonnet

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press