Etymologically
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chaperon

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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

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)