Etymologically
Log in

capot

Etymology and origin of the French word capot

History Permalink
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French capot
English kaput

French has two main words spelled capot: the hood or bonnet, formed from cape, and the card-playing term, of uncertain origin.[1][2]

capot1 hood, bonnet

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1541, chappot
Ultimate origin
Late Latin (cappa)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ka.po/[3]
  • IPA: /ka.pɔ/[3]

Forms

capot m (plural capots)[3]

Etymology

The hood is formed from cape with the diminutive suffix -ot,[4][2][5][6] the noun “cape” being from Late Latin cappa (“hooded cloak”).[3][5] The TLFi thinks a borrowing from Italian cappotto (“a kind of cloak”) unnecessary, although the FEW and Meyer-Lübke proposed it.[4][7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sailors' manuscript of 1541 has chappot for a hatch cover;[4] accounts of the court of Navarre (1576) have cappot for a kind of cloak.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The cloak sense, a short cape worn for example by the knights of the Holy Spirit, is obsolete except in Canada, where a capot is a hooded coat.[2][4][6] At sea it named a light covering over openings and fittings on deck (Boiste, 1819), such as the hood of a companionway.[4][1] From the end of the 19th century (Petit Larousse 1906) it was the metal cover over an engine, now especially the bonnet of a car.[4][1] The word was borrowed into Spanish capó and Portuguese capô.[3]

Timeline

  • 1541 – Chappot “hatch cover”.[4]
  • 1576 – Cappot “cloak”.[4]
  • 1819 – A hatch hood, in Boiste.[4]
  • 1906 – The bonnet of a car.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The bonnet (UK) or hood (US) of a car; any engine cover.[1][3]
  2. (nautical) A hood or cover over a hatch or companionway.[1][4]
  3. (Canada, dated) A hooded coat.[2][4]

Word family

  • capote
  • capoter
  • décapotable

capot2 (at cards) without a trick

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1585, Perrache

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ka.po/[3]
  • IPA: /ka.pɔ/[3]

Forms

capot (invariable)[1]

Etymology

The card term is of uncertain origin.[8][2] Bloch and Wartburg and Littré take it as a figurative use of “capot” “cloak”, the loser being as if a cloak had been thrown over his head;[5][6] Rey thinks of the western dialect verbs “caper”, “se caper” “to hide, sulk”, themselves from “cape”, but finds the link uncertain.[8] The Grand Robert suggests a possible alteration of a Provençal phrase from “cap” “head”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Capot is listed in 1585 among card players' calls in Perrache's Triomphe du berlan;[9][2] être capot “to have taken no trick” is found in 1619.[9][1]

Semantic evolution

In 1619 être capot was already used figuratively for being at the end of one's resources.[9] The noun capot, a hand in which the opponent takes no trick, is recorded by Richelet in 1680, and by 1690 the adjective also meant “humiliated, confounded”.[9][8] German kaputt “ruined, done for” was borrowed from it in the 17th century, during the Thirty Years' War, and was later taken back into French as kaput (1718).[8][5]

Timeline

  • 1585 – A card players' call.[9]
  • 1619 – Être capot.[9]
  • 1652 – German kaputt.[8]
  • 1680 – The noun, in Richelet.[9]
  • 1690 – “Humiliated”.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (cards) Having taken no trick: être capot.[1][10]
  2. (dated) Confounded, humiliated.[8]

Noun

  1. (cards, dated) A hand in which one side takes every trick.[1][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Capot.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/capot. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·