Etymograph

English

chevron

Chevron comes from Old French chevron, from Latin caper ‘goat’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kápros.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kápros1‘he-goat, billy goat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapros1‘he-goat’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaper1‘goat’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*capreus1reconstructed
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*capriō1reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chevron1
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cheveroun1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1928chevron1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English chevron
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1928, Kendrick Kimball, Injun Summer Calms: “And then we observed what caused us to rub…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*káprosWiktionary, English chevron‘he-goat, billy goat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaprosWiktionary, English chevron‘he-goat’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaperWiktionary, English chevron‘goat’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*capreusWiktionary, English chevronreconstructed
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*capriōWiktionary, English chevronreconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chevronWiktionary, English chevron
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cheverounWiktionary, English chevron
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1928chevronWiktionary, English chevron. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1928, Kendrick Kimball, Injun Summer Calms: “And then we observed what caused us to rub…”

The story

From Middle English cheveroun, from Old French chevron, the mark so called because it looks like rafters of a shallow roof, from Vulgar Latin *capriō, from Latin caper (‘goat’), the likely connection between goats and rafters being the animal's horns.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

cabriolet, 17 more

Today it means

noun A wide inverted V placed on a shield.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chevron”. 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 / chevron

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