Forms: 1 (cappa), cæppe, 3 keppe, 4–6 cappe, (5 cape), 5–7, capp, 6– cap. [OE. cæppe, a. late L. cappa ‘cap’ (It. cappa, Pr., Sp., Pg. capa, ONF. and Picard cape, F. chape, all meaning ‘cloak, cape or cope’). Isidore, a. 636, has (XIX. xxxi. 3, De ornamentis capitis feminarum) ‘cappa … quia capitis ornamentum est’; Diez cites cappa from a document of 660, and an ancient gloss ‘cappa mitra.’ Med.L. used indiscriminately cappa and capa (the latter, however, much more frequently), and commonly in the sense of ‘cloak, cope’; Chron. Treverti anno 1146, has ‘caracalla (i.e., a long cloak with a hood) quam nunc capam vocamus.’ The presumption is that the name was transferred from a woman’s cap, hood, or head-covering, as Isidore used it, to the ‘hood’ of a cloak, and then to a cloak or ‘cape’ having such a hood, and thus to a priest’s ‘cope.’ The sense ‘head-covering, cap, hat’ was at an early period in Romanic appropriated by the dim. cappellum, -ellus, in It. cappello, Sp. capelo, Pr. capel, OF. capel, chapel, F. chapeau, ‘hat.’ (The sense ‘little or short cloak’ was retained by the fem. dim. cappella, capella, It. cappella, Pr., Pg. capella, Sp. capilla, ONF. capelle, F. chapelle, until this received the curiously transferred sense CHAPEL, q.v.)
An explanation of capa, from capere to take, ‘quia quasi totum capiat hominem’ (because it takes as it were the whole man) is erroneously cited by Du Cange, and many after him, from Isidore. It is really from Papias c. 1053; and is manifestly a ‘popular etymology’ of a late age, after the application had passed from ‘cap’ to ‘cloak with a hood.’ (Mahn thinks that cappa may be of Iberian origin.) The evidence of OE. is important, since it points to two distinct L. types, viz. cappa (which gave cæppe, cappe, cap), and cāpa which gave cāpe, cōpe; the latter is also witnessed by Icel. kápa ‘cowled cloak, cloak with a hood’: see COPE.
It looks as if cappa, the living Romanic form, was first adopted in Eng. (say from Italy) in its 7th c. sense, and gave cæppe, and that at a later time cāpa, so common in med.L., was introduced specially for the ecclesiastical dress. The latter is not actually evidenced in OE., but it occurs in Layamon, and was in the language early enough to undergo the phonetic change of OE. á into ME. ō. OHG. (late) had chappa ‘cloak with a hood’; so MHG. kappe, MDu. cappe (both rarely in sense ‘cap’); modG. kappe, Du. kap ‘cap.’
Words to be distinguished are (1) Cap, OE. cæppe, L. cappa; (2) Cap, Sc. dial. form of cop (like tap, stap, for top, stop); (3) Cape, early ME. form of cope, retained in north. dial. and Sc. as cape, caip (cf. early ME. and north. pape, Sc. paip = pope); (4) Cape, mod.Eng., from F. cape, Sp. capa cloak, the same word in origin as 3, but re-introduced in a new connection; (5) Cape, F. cap, It. capo headland; (6) Cop, OE. cop, copp top, summit, also cup; (7) Cope, early ME. cāpe, Icel. kápa, L. cāpa. In ME. cape also occasionally appears for cappe, cap.]
I. A covering for the head.
1. A hood, a covering for the head. (Precise sense not definable; in first quot. still in Latin form.)
c. 1000. Ælfric, Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 152. Capitulum uel capitularium, heafod-claþ uel cappa.
a. 1100. Ags. Voc., ibid. 328. Cappa, cæppe.
† 2. A cloak with a hood; a cape or cope. (But prob. cappa here is really Latin, and not OE.)
a. 1000. Ags. Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 200. Caracalla, cappa.
3. A head-dress for women, varying according to fashion and taste. In later times a light covering of muslin, or the like, for the head, ordinarily worn indoors, or under a bonnet. Cf. MOB-CAP.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 420. Ȝif ȝe muwen beon wimpel-leas, beoð bi warme keppen.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., IV. iii. 70. Ile haue no bigger, this doth fit the time, And Gentlewomen weare such caps as these.
1598. B. Jonson, Ev. Man in Hum. Our great heads … never were in safety Since our wives wore these little caps.
c. 1830. Mrs. Sherwood, Houlston Tracts, III. No. 67. 7. My lady’s maid … with a fly cap, and a hat all puffed about with pea-green ribands.
1872. Ruskin, Eagle’s N., § 153. The quaint cap surrounds … the courtly and patient face.
1883. G. Lloyd, Ebb & Flow, II. 201. The kind of person who used to … count the nuns’ caps and handkerchiefs when they came home from the wash.
Mod. She insists on all the maids wearing caps.
4. A head-dress of men and boys: commonly applied to every kind of ordinary male head-dress that is not called a ‘hat,’ from which it is distinguished by not having a brim, and by being usually of some soft material; also to a number of official, professional and special head-dresses.
1382. Wyclif, Ex. xxiii. 14. [Men with] cappis died, or steyned, in the heedis of hem.
c. 1430. Freemasonry, 697. When thou comest by-fore a lorde … Hod or cappe that thou of do.
c. 1450. Nominale, in Wr.-Wülcker, 735. Hic pilius, a cape.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxix. 142. He toke of his cap and saluted the duke.
1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 22. Some [weare] high cappes lyke myters, of redde colour.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., III. vii. 35. Some followers of mine owne … hurld vp their Caps, And … cry’d, God saue King Richard.
1662. Fuller, Worthies, IV. 50. The best caps were formerly made at Monmouth, where the Cappers Chappel doth still remain.
1663. Butler, Hud., I. III. 120/1151. By black-caps, understand with white, Give certain guess at inward Light.
1742. Middleton, Cicero, III. ix. 6, note. A Cap was always given to Slaves, when they were made free, whence it became the emblem of liberty.
1772. Drewry’s Derby Mercury, 18 Sept., 2/1. The Swedes are divided into two great Parties, distinguished by the Names of Hats and Caps.
Mod. Hats and caps of every shape.
b. Used contextually instead of college cap (esp. in phrase cap and gown), night-cap, skull-cap, or other specific sense: see e.
1611. Cotgr., Calotte … a little light cap, or night-cap, worne vnder a hat.
a. 1656. Bp. Hall, Rem. Wks. (1660), 242. We hold the head uncovered if the hat be off, though the cap be on.
1807. Southey, Espriella’s Lett., II. 63. The caps and tassels of the students.
1835. Hood, Poetry, Prose, & Worse, xxix. Judge Park appears dreadfully prosy While dooming to death in his Cap.
1853. ‘C. Bede,’ Verdant Green, 341. While Mr. Green was paying for the cap and gown.
Mod. Do we appear in cap and gown? Is it a cap-and-gown affair?
c. A helmet or headpiece: also cap of fence.
1530. Palsgr., 202/2. Cappe of fence, segrette de maille.
1580. Sidney, Lett., in Arb., Garner, I. 309. When you play at weapons, I would have you get thick caps and bracers.
1839. E. D. Clarke, Trav. Russia, 50/1. Their [Cossacks’] cap or helmet is the most beautiful part of the costume, because it is becoming to every set of features.
1874. Boutell, Arms & Arm., ix. 161.
d. ‘The ensign of the cardinalate’ (J.); a cardinal’s biretta.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., V. i. 33. If once he come to be a Cardinall Hee’l make his cap coequal with the Crowne.
1666. Lond. Gaz., No. 26/2. The Pope expects more windfalls before he will give any Caps.
1670. G. H., Hist. Cardinals, I. III. 74. He puts on the red Cap upon their heads … with these words, Esto Cardinalis.
1795. Southey, Vis. Maid of Orleans, II. 276. These … in scarlet, and in caps Like cardinals, I see.
1864. Burton, Scot Abr., II. i. 69. It would have proved e’er now as fatal to him, as another such like cap in Queen Maries time had done to his compatriot Cardinal Betoun.
e. With some qualifying word, indicative of shape, origin or character; as BLACK CAP, q.v.; college cap, square cap, that worn by academics, which in its present shape is also popularly styled trencher cap, or mortar-board, and in its earlier form is called in Scottish Universities the John Knox cap (see also CATER-CAP); forked cap, a mitre; † great cap (see quot.); † Monmouth cap (see quot. 1662 in 4); Scotch cap, the cloth cap worn with the Highland dress; also various recent modifications of that pattern; † spiced cap, ? a cap lined with a blister for the head; † statute cap, a cap of wool ordered by statute (see quot. 1571) to be worn by citizens on holydays for the benefit of the cappers’ trade; hence, cap of wool, taken as the mark of a tradesman or citizen. Also cricket-, polo-, football-cap. And see CATER-CAP, NIGHTCAP, SKULL-CAP, etc.
1514. Barclay, Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (1847), Introd. 66. With forked cappes it folly is to mell.
1571. Act 13 Eliz., xix. Euery person … shall wear vpon the Sabbath and holy day … vpon their head a Cap of Wooll knit thicked and dressed in England.
1582. in W. H. Turner, Select. Rec. Oxford, 430. Scottyshe cappes partelie colored.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 281. Well, better wits have worne plain statute caps. Ibid. (1599), Hen. V., IV. vii. 103. The Welchmen did good service … wearing Leekes in their Monmouth caps.
1605. Marston, Dutch Courtezan, III. (N.). Though my husband be a Citizen, and’s caps made of wooll, yet I ha wit.
1689. R. Davies, Jrnl. (1857), 51. It was concluded … to put on a spiced cap by order of Dr. Willis for amaurosis.
1691. Wood, Ath. Oxon., I. 193. Sampson … was an enemy … to the square cap.
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., I. § 11. Philosophers in square caps and long gowns.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., Churchmen, and the members of universities … wear square caps.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Cap, or great Cap, a denomination of a kind of compendious bandage, serving for almost all occasions of the head, being in figure not unlike a helmet.
1873. Edin. Univ. Calendar, 174. Cap of black silk velvet after the John Knox fashion.
1885. Baring-Gould, Court Royal, xvi. in Cornh. Mag., July, 23. A silk cassock, red hood, and college cap.
f. Cap of maintenance: (a) see MAINTENANCE; (b) A cap borne as one of the insignia of office before the sovereign of England at the coronation, and before mayors of some cities; (c) in Her. A cap borne as a charge, or in place of a wreath, so cap of dignity, estate, hono(u)r, state. Cap of liberty or Phrygian bonnet: the conical cap given in the Roman times to slaves on emancipation, and often used as a republican symbol. Cap and bauble, Cap and bells: the insignia of the fool or jester: cf. FOOL’S-CAP. Cap and feather days: the days of childhood.
1489. Wriothesley, Chron. (1875), I. 2. A capp of mayntenance brought from Rome to the Kinge.
1528. Tindale, Obed. Chr. Man, Wks. I. 186. For their labour he [the pope] giveth to some a rose; to another a cap of maintenance.
1610. Guillim, Heraldry, VI. v. (1660), 400. This kind of Head-tire is called a Cap of dignity.
1632. Massinger, City Madam, IV. i. (1658), 51. The Cap of Maintenance, and Citie Sword Born up in state before him.
1663. Butler, Hud., I. III. 116/1067. For who without a Cap and Bauble,… Would put it to a second proof.
1709. Addison, Tatler, No. 161, ¶ 4. The Genius of a Commonwealth, with the Cap of Liberty on her Head.
1752. Carte, Hist. Eng., III. 191. The Earl of Surrey had re-assumed them, putting over them … a cap of maintenance purple with powdered furr.
1766. Porny, Heraldry (1787), Gloss., Chapeau … an antient Cap of Dignity, formerly worn by Nobility, being made of crimson Velvet in the outside, and lined with Fur.
1821. in W. Cobbett, Rur. Rides (1885), I. 50. Here I was got into the scenes of my cap-and-feather days!
1851. Layard, Nineveh, 97. The head dress of the Persian Monarchs appears to have resembled the Phrygian Bonnet or the French Cap of Liberty.
1874. Boutell, Arms & Arm., x. 201. In this example [crested helm of King Richard II.] the lion-crest stands upon a ‘cap of dignity.’
1884. Punch, 1 March, 100. Where last he shook the cap and bells.
g. From the custom of uncovering the head (abridged to ‘raising’ or merely ‘touching’ the cap) in sign of reverence, respect, or courtesy, come many expressions, such as to come with cap in hand, † with cap and knee, bareheaded and bowing or kneeling, † with cap and courtship, or † cap and curtsey; and also the contextual use of cap, for the raising of the cap, respectful salute.
1565. Golding, Ovid’s Met., I. (1593), 3. No man would crouch … to Judge with cap in hand.
1573. G. Harvey, Letter-bk. (1884), 5. Nether afording me a word, nor a cap.
1581. Marbeck, Bk. of Notes, 1189. They shall have cappe and knee, and many gaye good morrowes in this lyfe.
1598. E. Gilpin, Skial. (1878), 44. Cap and courtship complements.
1600. Holland, Livy, IX. xx. 328. They … importuned them … with cap and cursie.
1675. Brooks, Gold. Key, Wks. 1867, V. 486. Oh the caps, knees, and bows that Haman had.
1679. Penn, Addr. Prot., I. 14. It [Apparel] opens Doors,… carries away the Cap and the Knee from most other Pretences.
1702. Eng. Theophrast., 109. A cap or a smile perhaps will serve to gain us the reputation of the opposite Virtues.
1887. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 Feb., 3/1. Suppose than that it went cap in hand to every Government in Europe.
h. fig. (with some sense of top).
1607. Shaks., Timon, IV. iii. 363. Thou art the Cap Of all the Fooles aliue.
5. In names of plants, as FRIAR’S CAP, SOLDIER’S CAP, TURK’S CAP, for which see these words.
† 6. slang. (From the expression ‘to send round the cap (or hat) for an improvised collection’) = cap-money (see 19). Obs.
1851. Eureka; Sequel Ld. Russell’s Post Bag, 21. What amount of Cap is realized out of an average field?
7. = Head; as in quot. 1659 in 9, and in such combs. as fuddle-, huff-cap.
8. Short for CAP-PAPER.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Wks. (N.). Dunghill rags … May be advanc’d aloft to sheets of cap.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Paper.… Papers … may be divided…. With regard to use, into … cap, cartridge, copy, chancery, post, &c.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v., Flat cap is 14 × 17 inches; double cap is 17 × 28; foolscap and legal cap are of various sizes.
1875. Ure, Dict. Arts, III. 497. Under the characteristic names of coarse papers may be mentioned: Kent cap, 21 by 18; bag cap, 191/2 by 24; Havon cap, 21 by 26; imperial cap, 221/2 by 29.
9. Phrases. † To cast one’s cap at: to show indifference to give up for lost. † To come, fall under, lie in one’s cap: to occur to, be in one’s mind. To put on one’s thinking or considering cap: to take time for thinking over something. The cap fits: the description or remark suits or is felt to suit (a particular person). To pull caps: to quarrel, wrangle, struggle together (? in a noisy or undignified way). To set one’s cap at: (colloq.) said of a woman who sets herself to gain the affections of a man. † To have one’s cap set, to have (enough) under one’s cap: to be intoxicated. To throw up one’s cap: i.e., in token of joy. † If your cap be of wool: as sure as your cap is of wool. And other obvious proverbial phrases, such as My cap is better at ease than my head, Ready as a borrower’s cap, etc.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 136. My cap is better at ease then my hed.
1579. Tomson, Calvin’s Serm. Tim., 824/2. Hauing cast their caps into ye winde (as the prouerbe is) thinke no harme can touch them.
1582. Long Meg of Westminster, A 3 (N.). Ile make him pay if his cap be made of wool.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., II. i. 196. He that throwes not vp his cap for ioy. Ibid. (1597), 2 Hen. IV., II. ii. 125. The answer is as ready as a borrowers cap.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Prendre, La pluye le prendra, he will be well whitled, his cap will be set.
1624. Bp. Mountagu, Gagg, 61. Goe cast your cap then at Peter’s primacy from confirming his Brethren.
a. 1637. B. Jonson, T. Tub, II. ii. (N.). Slip, you will answer it, an if your cap be of wool.
1657. R. Ligon, Barbadoes (1673), 42. They fall back, and put on their considering caps.
a. 1659. Osborn, Observ. Turks (1673), Pref. 4. It lies not in my Cap to apprehend.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills, III. 52. He … casts his Cap, At the Court and her Cares.
a. 1734. North, Ld. Guilford (1808), I. 84 (D.). It fell not under every one’s cap to give so good advice. Ibid., II. 32. The reasons were special, and such as come not under every cap.
1755. Mem. Capt. P. Drake, II. v. 188. Mr. Miller, to show the Cap fitted him, made a Stroke with his Cane … at me.
1773. Goldsm., Stoops to Conq., I. i. Instead of breaking my heart at his indifference, I’ll … set my cap to some newer fashion, and look out for some less difficult admirer.
1785. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Ode to R. A.’s, x. Wks. 1812, I. 100. Our lofty Duchesses pull caps, And give each other’s reputation raps. Ibid. (1806), Tristia, Wks. 1812, V. 341. Seven cities of the Grecian world Pull’d wigs, pull’d caps.
1816. ‘Quiz,’ Grand Master, III. 55. If the cap fits him, he may wear it.
1822. Byron, Juan, XI. lxxx. Some, who once set their caps at cautious dukes.
1830. Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), I. 195. Men are exhorted to struggle and pull caps.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, I. iii. That girl is setting her cap at you.
1839. De Quincey, War, Wks. IV. 272. They could not have caused a war by pulling caps with each other.
1866. Geo. Eliot, F. Holt (1868), 38. If anybody shows himself offended, he’ll put the cap on for himself.
II. Things of similar shape, position or use.
* Of things natural.
10. a. A cap-like covering of any kind; spec. the pileus or head of a mushroom, the patella or small bone protecting the knee-joint (KNEE-CAP); a cloud resting on a mountain top. b. A top stratum or layer, esp. when harder than that which it covers; a capping. c. A cap-like top.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. lxxxi. (1495), 653. Somme plantis beere sede in harde shales and in cappys wythout aboue the shalys: as nottes and other suche.
1664. Power, Exp. Philos., II. 92. The little Cap of Air in the obtuse end of an Egge.
1671. Grew, Anat. Plants, I. vi. § 8. In a Nut … there are three general Parts, the Cap, Shell, and Pith.
1678. Phil. Trans., XII. 1052. The Mine … lies twenty yards under a surface or Cap of Earth.
1762. Hudson, in ibid. LII. 496. Part of the base of one of the Fungi … rests on the pileus, or cap of the other.
1767. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, IX. xxxi. A wound upon the cap of a man’s knee.
1791. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 108. The merchantable Beds are universally covered with a Stratum called the Cap, which is formed entirely of a congeries of petrified sea-shells.
1839. Murchison, Silur. Syst., I. xxxvii. 516. The present form of the hills has alone been preserved by caps of semi-conglomerate corn-stone.
1856. Longf., Twilight. Like the wings of sea-birds Flash the white caps of the sea.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. § 15. 101. On looking towards the Æggischhorn we found a [cloud] cap upon its crest.
1865. Lubbock, Preh. Times, xii. (1878), 426. Mr. Croll considers that the ice cap at the Antarctic Pole must be at least twelve miles in thickness.
** Of things artificial: general and technical.
11. A cap-shaped part forming or covering the top of various things, e.g., of a thimble, furnace, etc.; the movable upper story of a windmill, the outer covering of a bee-hive, an extra box or case added on the top of a hive, the upper half of a journal-box (the lower half being the pillow).
1609. C. Butler, Fem. Mon. (1634), 39. The Head [of the hive] is to be covered and bound fast with a Cap.
1674. Ray, Smelt. Silver, Coll. 114. The refining Furnace is covered with a thick cap of stone.
1693. Sir T. P. Blount, Nat. Hist., 293. Full of little Pit-Holes, like the Cap of a Thimble.
1783. Phil. Trans., LXXIII. 452. The cap of the receiver.
1867. F. Francis, Angling, i. (1880), 10. Take off the cap of the float.
1881. Mechanic, § 970. The roof should be ornamented at its very apex by a cap.
b. The tire of lead and tin on the periphery of a glazing wheel.
12. A cap-like cover or similar part on the end of anything.
E.g., of a magnetic needle, a portable telescope, the lens of a camera; also the iron-banded piece on the end of a wooden pump-rod by which it is connected with a working-beam; the band of leather, etc., in a flail through which the middle-band passes = CAPLING; the metal on the butt-end of fire-arms; a covering of tarred canvas on the end of a ship rope; an extra covering on the toe of a boot or shoe (= toe-cap); small pieces of leather used to confine temporary pins or bolts in carriages.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 61. Cappe of a fleyle, meditentum.
1530. Palsgr., 203/1. Cappe of a flayle.
1680. Lond. Gaz., No. 1532/4. A Pair of French Pistols … the Stocks of Maple, Silver Side-plates, and Silver Caps.
1747. Knight, in Phil. Trans., XLIV. 658. These [magnetic] needles … weighed … with their caps 7 pennyweight.
1796. W. Felton, Carriages, Gloss., Pole Pin Caps [etc.].
1870. Eng. Mech., 18 March, 661/3. Designs … suitable for the toe-caps of boots.
1876. Hiles, Catech. Organ, iv. (1878), 25. The cap [of a wood organ pipe] is a piece of hard wood at the lower end of the pipe, covering the block.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., III. 99. When the camera has been placed in position … the cap of the lens should be removed.
1885. Law Rep., XV. Queen’s B. Div., 359. A metal cap was put over the shaft…. The cap kept the shaft in its place.
13. A cap-like covering; a cover or case.
E.g., a nipple or breast-cap; the inner case, which encloses the movements in some forms of watches; in a cannon = APRON; the cover of a headband or the envelope of a book while binding.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xii. § 18. A Brest Cap, or Nipple Cap … is made of silver in shape like an hat.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., s.v., They call also that Piece of Lead which is put over the Touch-hole of a great Gun, to keep the Prime from being wasted or spilt, the Cap of the Gun.
1883. Leisure Ho., 244/2. Sewing the ‘caps,’ or covers, on to the bales [of wool].
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 4. The cap covers the escapement and balance.
b. A small conical paper bag for holding groceries, etc., made by twisting up a sheet of paper; a ‘cornet.’
14. = Gun cap, Percussion cap: A cap-shaped piece of copper lined with a fulminating composition, used to ignite the powder in fire-arms.
c. 1826. Wellington, in Mem. R. Davenport-Hill, 231. ‘Croker, you may understand the battle of Waterloo, but I’ll be d——d if you know anything of copper caps!’
1844. Regul. & Ord. Army, 112, note. Copper caps [will be charged for] at the rate of ten shillings a thousand.
1868. Sat. Rev., No. 652. 561/2. Sometimes the caps would not explode; sometimes there were no caps at all.
1886. Manch. Exam., 6 Jan., 5/2. The cap missed fire.
15. A part laid horizontally or flat along the top of various structures.
E.g., a horizontal beam joining the heads of a row of piles in a timber bridge, or the tops of a row of posts in a frame, a plate; the handrail of a balustrade, or of a stair railing; the lintel of a door or window frame; a piece of wood laid upon another in order to bring it up to a required height; the hood-sheaves of a shock of corn.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 151. If the Board be too thin, they underlay that Board upon every Joyst with a Cap.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xiii. § 78. The first is a Wall with a Cap or Head over the Door.
1790. W. Marshall, Midl. Counties (E. D. S.), Caps, hoodsheaves of cornshucks.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 103. Caps, square pieces of oak, laid upon the upper blocks on which the ship is built, to receive the keel.
16. Arch. The uppermost part of any assemblage of principal parts.
E.g., the capital of a column, the cornice of a room, the capping or uppermost member of the surbase of a room, etc.
1870. F. Wilson, Ch. Lindisf., 50. The pillars are cylindrical; their caps primitively fluted. Ibid., 110. Its pillars … from floor to cap, are hexagonal.
17. Naut. A strong thick block of wood, having two large holes through it, used to hold two masts together, when one is erected at the head of the other in order to lengthen it (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk.). Cap of a block: see quot. 1794.
1626. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Accid., 28. Strike your top masts to the cap. Ibid. (1692), Seaman’s Gram., XVI. 77. To lower or strike the Flag, is to pull it down upon the Cap.
1762–9. Falconer, Shipwr., III. 583. The … stay Drags the main top-mast by the cap away.
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, I. 150. Cap, a semi-circular projection from the sides and round the end of a block above the pin; through it two holes are bored … through [which] the strap is passed, to prevent its being chafed.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxxv. 132. Rigging all let go … topsail yards down upon the caps.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 75. The lower caps are usually made of oak, with an iron band round them.
III. attrib. and in comb.
18. General relations: a. simple attrib., as cap-border, -box, -peak, -riband, -string, -strip, -worship, -pocket, -priming; b. appositive, ‘formed or acting as a cap,’ as cap-glass, -house, -piece, -roof, -sill; c. objective gen., as cap-knitter, -maker, -making, -setting; d. adjs., as capless, cap-ended, -roofed.
1796. W. Felton, Carriages, I. 219. A *Cap-Box is a case made convenient for carrying ladies’ head-dresses safe.
1882. Vines, Sachs’ Bot., 145. Every such segment belonging to a root-cap is hence termed simply a *Cap-cell.
1843. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., IV. II. 365. *Cap-ended, that is, having no gables.
1660. Sharrock, Vegetables, 12. Those that use *Cap-Glasses … straw, litter, or the like.
1861. C. Innes, Sk. Early Sc. Hist., 443. A stern, square keep,… surmounted with a *cap-house.
1465. in Ripon Ch. Acts, 120. Marjoria Claton, *cappeknytter.
1600. Heywood, Edw. IV., I. II. ii. All kings or cap-knitters!
1840. Galt, Demon of Dest., VIII. 53. His hoary hair stream’d *capless.
c. 1440. York Myst., xxiv. The *Cappemakers.
1488–9. Act 4 Hen. VII., ix. Hatmakers and Kapmakers doth sell their hattes and cappes at suche an outrageous price.
1713. Lond. Gaz., No. 5182/4. The Cap-makers of Bewdley.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 405. Each pier is composed of seven sticks of oak timber, united by a *cap-piece.
1844. Regul. & Ord. Army, 92. With a view to the preservation of the *Cap Pockets, they are … to be carried inside the Pouch, over the Ammunition.
1879. G. Macdonald, Sir Gibbie, xxi. 112. A turret with a conical *cap-roof.
1882. Society, 30 Dec., 12/2. Caught by a *cap-setting woman.
1824. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. II. (1863), 263. Beautiful, in spite of age, and *cap-strip, and neckcloth, and spectacles.
1630. Sanderson, Serm., II. 262. The knee-worship, and the *cap-worship, and the lip-worship they may have that are in worshipful places.
19. Special combs.:
† Cap-castle, the chief village of a district; cap-head (Mining), a top placed upon an air-box, used in sinking, etc.; capland (see quot.); † cap-man, a cap-maker; cap-money (see quot.); cap-pudding, a pudding containing plums or currants which form a black top or cap to it when it is served up; cap-scuttle (see quot.); cap-sea (see quot.); cap-sheaf, the top sheaf of a shock or stook, also fig.; cap-shore (see quot.); cap-sick a., ? brain-sick, intoxicated; cap-square, † -squire (see quot.).
1664. Spelman, s.v. Metrocomiae, Et nos in Gallia Narbonensi Metrocomias nunc *Capcastles appellamus.
1819. Edin. Rev., XXXII. 10. *Cap-land … was held by the oaths of seven recognitors.
1647. in Rushw., Hist. Coll., IV. II. 974. Two Thousand *Cap-Men from Bewdly.
1847–78. Halliwell, *Capmoney, money gathered for the huntsman at the death of the fox.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 103. A *cap scuttle, a framing composed of coamings and head-ledges raised above the deck, with a flap or top which shuts closely over into a rabbet.
1880. W. A. Andrews, Daring Voy., 135–6. Their course took them into the *‘Cap Seas,’ or ‘Rolling Forties’ of sailors, to the south and eastward of the Grand Banks.
1851. H. Melville, Moby-Dick, xlv. 296. The placing of the *cap-sheaf to all this blundering business was reserved for the scientific Frederick Cuvier.
1882. Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 8. *Capshore, a support under the forepart of a lower cap.
1619. H. Hutton, Follies Anat. (1842), 9. I could … tell a tale should … make them startle; rain themselves *cap-sick.
1611. Cotgr., Clavette … also the *Capsquire, or Fore-locke of the carriage of a Canon.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., Cap-Squares, are broad Pieces of Iron, on each side of the Carriage of a great Gun, and lock’d over the Trunnions of the Piece with an Iron Pin: Their use is to keep the Piece from flying out of the Carriage when ’tis shot off with its Mouth lying very low.
