English
escapade
Escapade comes from French escapade ‘the act of escaping’, and goes back to Latin cappa ‘cape, cloak’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcappa1‘cape, cloak’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*excappāre2‘to escape’reconstructed
- Old Spanishc. 950–1500escapada2
- Frenchc. 1600–presentescapade2‘the act of escaping’
- Englishearliest quotation 1724escapade2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin excappare
- 2 Wiktionary, English escapade
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1724, Charles Johnson pseudonym, Of Captain Howel Davis, and His Crew: “The Manner of living among the Portugueze here is,…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcappaWiktionary, Latin excappare‘cape, cloak’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*excappāreWiktionary, English escapade‘to escape’reconstructed
- Old Spanishc. 950–1500escapadaWiktionary, English escapade
- Frenchc. 1600–presentescapadeWiktionary, English escapade‘the act of escaping’
- Englishearliest quotation 1724escapadeWiktionary, English escapade. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1724, Charles Johnson pseudonym, Of Captain Howel Davis, and His Crew: “The Manner of living among the Portugueze here is,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘head’
had, case, except, heavy, accept, receive, behavior, cash, catch, achieve, heavily, chase, cable, recipe, reception, capacity, perception, haven, capable, capture, occupation, behave, recipient, hawk, anticipation, anticipate, chassis, susceptible, deception, conceive, caption, cater, captive, capsule, captivity, cassette, deceive, deceptive, conceivable, casket, 134 more
through Proto-Indo-European *káput ‘head’
through Proto-Italic *kaput ‘head’
capitalism, capitalize, capitan, capote, capitaine, 61 more
through Latin caput ‘head’
capital, captain, chapter, chef, cattle, precipitation, capitol, capita, mischief, mischievous, chieftain, cad, precipitate, occipital, precipitous, capillary, chattel, chabot, jefe, capo, dishevelled, caddie, capitulate, cabochon, caput, 68 more
through Latin cappa ‘cape, cloak’
cope, cabin, chapel, cape, chaplain, cabana, capuchin, capa, kaput, chaperon, 19 more
through Vulgar Latin *excappāre ‘to escape’
Today it means
noun A daring or adventurous act; an undertaking which goes against convention.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “escapade”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin excappare. 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 cappa / escapade