chaperon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃa.pʁɔ̃/^[1]

Forms

chaperon m (plural chaperons)^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of chape (“cape, hood”) with the suffix “-(er)on”,^[2][3][4][1] from Late Latin cappa (“hooded cloak”).^[5][6] Compare Old Occitan capairon and Italian capperone (“rain hood”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Couronnement de Louis (about 1131) has Parlez à moi, sire au chaperon large, of a hood with a padded roll and a hanging tail, worn by men and women in the Middle Ages.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

It also named a band of cloth worn on the head by women who were not noble, the hood of a hawk in falconry (1354–1377) and the padded shoulder piece of a magistrate's or professor's gown.^[2][7][8] In the second half of the 14th century (Froissart, caperon) it was the coping of a wall, which throws off the rain.^[2][7] Furetière (1690) used it for an older person who accompanies a young girl for propriety's sake, alluding to the decency the headdress implied, and Perrault's tale Le Petit Chaperon rouge (1697) kept the old sense alive.^[2][3] Chaperonner “to chaperone” dates from 1835, and modern biochemistry speaks of protéines chaperons.^[3][8]

Timeline

• c. 1131 – A hood, in the Couronnement de Louis.^[2]
• 1354–1377 – A falcon's hood.^[2]
• Late 14th century – Caperon “coping”, in Froissart.^[2]
• 1690 – A chaperone, in Furetière.^[2]
• 1697 – Le Petit Chaperon rouge.^[2]
• 1835 – Chaperonner “to chaperone”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chaperone: servir de chaperon à une jeune fille.^[8][1]
2. (historical) A hood with a padded roll and tail, le Petit Chaperon rouge: Little Red Riding Hood.^[8][3]
3. A hood (for a hawk in falconry).^[8][7]
4. (building) The coping of a wall.^[8][9]
5. A shoulder piece on a magistrate's or professor's gown.^[7][9]

Word family

• chaperonner

Related words

• chape
• chapeau
• cape

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)