Etymograph

English

cap

Cap comes from Old English cæppe, from Proto-West Germanic *kappā, from Late Latin cappa ‘hood, cape’, from Latin caput ‘head’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaput1‘head’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcappa1‘cap, hood, cape’
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kappā1‘covering, hood, mantle’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cæppe1‘cap, hood’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cappe1‘cap’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1596cap1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cap
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Dublin: Laurence Flin: “As if one going to diſtrain upon his own…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaputWiktionary, English cap‘head’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcappaWiktionary, English cap‘cap, hood, cape’
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kappāWiktionary, English cap‘covering, hood, mantle’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cæppeWiktionary, English cap‘cap, hood’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cappeWiktionary, English cap‘cap’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1596capWiktionary, English cap. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Dublin: Laurence Flin: “As if one going to diſtrain upon his own…”

Linked words

through Middle English cappe

capper

Today it means

noun A close-fitting hat, either brimless or peaked.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cap”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin caput / cap

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