zucchetto

[ zoo-ket-oh; Italian tsook-ket-taw ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural zuc·chet·tos, Italian zuc·chet·ti [tsook-, ket, -tee].

a small, round skullcap worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, a priest's being black, a bishop's violet, a cardinal's red, and the pope's white; calotte.

zucchetto

/ zuː-; suː-; tsuːˈkɛtəʊ /

RC Church a small round skullcap worn by certain ecclesiastics and varying in colour according to the rank of the wearer, the Pope wearing white, cardinals red, bishops violet, and others black

1850–55; < Italian, variant of zucchetta, diminutive of zucca gourd, head, perhaps < pre-Indo-European *tjukka gourd

C19: from Italian, from zucca a gourd, head, from Late Latin cucutia gourd, probably from Latin cucurbita

The zucchetto, or pileolus, is removed at the end of the last secret prayer, and resumed after the ablutions.

Some one asked whether it was lawful for any one, not a bishop, to wear a zucchetto during the celebration of Mass.

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