Etymograph

English

capretto

Capretto comes from Italian capretto ‘diminutive of capro’, from capro ‘male goat’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kápros.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kápros1‘buck, he-goat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapros1‘he-goat’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaper2as caprum‘he-goat’
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentcapro3‘male goat’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcapretto4‘diminutive of capro’
  6. Englishtodaycapretto4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin caper
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Italian capro
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Italian capretto
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English capretto

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*káprosWiktionary, Latin caper‘buck, he-goat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaprosWiktionary, Latin caper‘he-goat’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaperWiktionary, Italian caproas caprum‘he-goat’
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentcaproWiktionary, Italian capretto‘male goat’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcaprettoWiktionary, English capretto‘diminutive of capro’
  6. EnglishtodaycaprettoWiktionary, English capretto

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kápros ‘buck, he-goat’

cabriolet, 16 more

through Latin caper ‘he-goat’

chevron, 14 more

Today it means

noun meat from a kid, or young goat

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “capretto”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin caper, Italian capro, Italian capretto. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *kápros / capretto

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