casquette

Forms

casquette f (plural casquettes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French casque + -ette, with the diminutive suffix.^[2][3][1] The TLFi dates it to 1813,^[2] the DHLF to 1817,^[4] and Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF to 1820.^[5][6] Littré derived it from casquet instead,^[7] a word the TLFi records from 1556 to 1704.^[2]

The base is from Spanish casco (“potsherd, skull, helmet”), a deverbal noun of cascar (“to break”), from Vulgar Latin *quassicō, a derivative of Latin quassō, the source of casser.^[2][5] From the beginning the cap was a soft headgear, and its sense has always stood apart from that of the helmet.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1813, in Jouy's L'Hermite de la Chaussée d'Antin, for a cap with a visor.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The cap spread widely in the 1830s and became the mark of the working class and of certain military ranks.^[4] The casquette à pont, with a raised crown, was adopted about 1900 by cattle dealers and then by hooligans.^[8][9]

In 1844 Vidocq records casquette as an adjective meaning “drunk”, modelled on être coiffé “to be drunk”.^[2] By metonymy the cap stands for the head in en avoir ras la casquette “to be fed up”, parallel to ras le bol,^[4][9] and the familiar cry vas-y, allons-y casquette ! is recorded in 1911.^[4] Since the cap can stand for an office, avoir plusieurs casquettes means to hold several important posts at once.^[4][10][9]

Timeline

• 1813 – First record, in Jouy.^[2]
• 1820 – Laveaux's dictionary records it.^[6]
• 1844 – Vidocq uses it as an adjective meaning “drunk”.^[2]
• 1850 – The derivative casquetté appears in Balzac.^[2]
• 1866 – casquettier is recorded in the Larousse.^[2]
• 1911 – Vas-y, allons-y casquette ! is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cap with a visor or peak, soft or stiff: une casquette de marin, une casquette en laine.^[9][8][10]
2. (figurative) A function or office held by someone: avoir plusieurs casquettes, to hold several posts.^[10][9][8]
3. Casquette à pont: a cap with a raised crown, worn around 1900 by hooligans.^[8][9]
4. (familiar) En avoir sous la casquette: to be clever;^[9][4] en avoir ras la casquette: to be fed up.^[9][4]
5. (old slang, adjective) Drunk.^[2][7]

Word family

• casquettier
• casquetté

Related words

• casque

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)