Related Searches
Nearby Words
noun
1.
a person, usually a married or older woman, who, for propriety, accompanies a young unmarried woman in public or who attends a party of young unmarried men and women.
2.
any adult present in order to maintain order or propriety at an activity of young people, as at a school dance.
3.
a round headdress of stuffed cloth with wide cloth streamers that fall from the crown or are draped around it, worn in the 15th century.
verb (used with object)
4.
to attend or accompany as chaperon.
:10
:09
:08
:07
:06
:05
:04
:03
:02
:01
Chaperonage
is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
verb (used without object)
5.
to act as chaperon.
Also, chaperone.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French: hood, cowl, equivalent to chape cape1 + -eron noun suffix; figurative sense < French (18th century)
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French: hood, cowl, equivalent to chape cape1 + -eron noun suffix; figurative sense < French (18th century)
Related forms
chap·er·on·less, adjective
Synonyms
1, 4. escort.
1, 4. escort.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To chaperonage
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
chaperon
1720, from Fr. chaperon "protector," especially "female companion to a young woman," earlier "head covering, hood," from O.Fr. chaperon, dim. of chape "cape." The verb is first attested 1796. "... English writers often erroneously spell it chaperone, app. under the supposition that it requires a fem.
EXPANDtermination." [OED]
COLLAPSE
"Chaperon ... when used metaphorically means that the experienced married woman shelters the youthful débutante as a hood shelters the face" [1864].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.