bonnet

[ bon-it ]
See synonyms for bonnet on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a hat, usually tying under the chin and often framing the face, formerly much worn by women but now worn mostly by children.

  2. Informal. any hat worn by women.

  1. Chiefly Scot. a man's or boy's cap.

  2. a bonnetlike headdress: an Indian war bonnet.

  3. any of various hoods, covers, or protective devices.

  4. a cowl, hood, or wind cap for a fireplace or chimney, to stabilize the draft.

  5. the part of a valve casing through which the stem passes and that forms a guide and seal for the stem.

  6. a chamber at the top of a hot-air furnace from which the leaders emerge.

  7. Chiefly British. an automobile hood.

  8. Nautical. a supplementary piece of canvas laced to the foot of a fore-and-aft sail, especially a jib, in light winds.

verb (used with object)
  1. to put a bonnet on.

Origin of bonnet

1
1375–1425; late Middle English bonet<Middle French; Old French bonet material from which hats are made, perhaps <Old Low Franconian *bunni something bound (<Germanic *bund-, noun derivative of *bind-bind; cf. bundle), with -et-et; compare Late Latin abonnis, obbonis ribbon forming part of a headdress <Germanic, with a prefix corresponding to Middle High German obe-above

Other words from bonnet

  • bon·net·less, adjective
  • bon·net·like, adjective

Words Nearby bonnet

Other definitions for Bonnet (2 of 2)

Bonnet
[ baw-ne ]

noun
  1. Georges [zhawrzh], /ʒɔrʒ/, 1889–1973, French statesman.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bonnet in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bonnet

bonnet

/ (ˈbɒnɪt) /


noun
  1. any of various hats worn, esp formerly, by women and girls, usually framing the face and tied with ribbons under the chin

  2. Also called: (in Scotland) bunnet (ˈbʌnɪt)

    • a soft cloth cap

    • formerly, a flat brimless cap worn by men

  1. the hinged metal part of a motor vehicle body that provides access to the engine, or to the luggage space in a rear-engined vehicle

  2. a cowl on a chimney

  3. nautical a piece of sail laced to the foot of a foresail to give it greater area in light winds

  4. (in the US and Canada) a headdress of feathers worn by some tribes of American Indians, esp formerly as a sign of war

Origin of bonnet

1
C14: from Old French bonet, from Medieval Latin abonnis, of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for Bonnet

Bonnet

[ bô-nĕ ]


  1. Swiss naturalist who discovered parthenogenesis when he observed that aphid eggs could develop without fertilization. Bonnet was also one of the first scientists to study photosynthesis.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with bonnet

bonnet

see bee in one's bonnet.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.