Wiktionary

cape

See also: Cape, capé, cápe, çapë, and čape

English

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Cape Cod.

Pronunciation

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  • enPR: kāp, IPA(key): /keɪp/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪp

Etymology 1

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From Middle English cape, gappe, cap, from Old French cap (“cape, headland”), from Latin caput (“head”). Doublet of capo, caput, chef, and chief, and distantly with head and Howth. For sense development, compare English ness (“a promontory point, cape”) from a root related to nose.

Noun

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cape (plural capes)

  1. (geography) A piece or point of land, extending beyond the adjacent coast into a sea or lake; a promontory; a headland.
    Synonyms: chersonese, ness, peninsula, point
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
 
 
LTR: short crocheted cape; Batman's long, hooded cape; a long, thick Inverness cape.

From French cape, from Old Occitan capa, from Late Latin cappa (“cape”). The second sense ("superhero") is metonymic from the fact that many superheroes wear capes. Likewise, the verb sense "defend, praise" alludes to the stereotypical depiction of superheroes wearing capes when they come to people's defense. (Compare caped crusader.) Doublet of capa and cappa.

Noun

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cape (plural capes)

  1. A sleeveless garment or part of a garment, hanging from the neck over the back, arms, and shoulders.
    • 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
      Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.
  2. (slang) A superhero.
    • 2017, April Daniels, Dreadnought: Nemesis - Book One, Diversion Books, →ISBN:
      Rows and rows of booths and pavilions stretch across the floor, draped with glowing holograms and shifting signs beckoning capes to try their wares. Bystander insurance. Hypertech components. Mystical ingredients. Training DVDs ...
Translations
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Usage notes

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  • Some authors distinguish capes from cloaks, especially by saying capes are shorter or sometimes that cloaks have hoods (cowls) or are of thicker material for dealing with cold or wet weather, but the terms are generally interchanged. For example, the traditional Inverness cape is thick for inclement weather and reaches to the calf, James Robinson Planché's 1879 Cyclopaedia of Costume or Dictionary of Dress includes some capes with hoods, and Batman's cape has a cowl today and, like Dracula's and Superman's capes, typically reaches to the calf if not to the ground.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Dutch: cape
  • → German: Cape
  • → Japanese: ケープ (kēpu)
  • → Norwegian: cape
  • → Swedish: cape
  • → Welsh: cêp

See also

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Verb

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cape (third-person singular simple present capes, present participle caping, simple past and past participle caped)

  1. To incite or attract (a bull) to charge a certain direction, by waving a cape.
    • 2013, Odie Hawkins, The Black Matador, "Sugar", AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 140:
      “I became a novillero when I was fourteen, but I had already been going to the fields and caping bulls since I was about twelve."
  2. (nautical) To head or point; to keep a course.
    The ship capes southwest by south.
  3. To skin an animal, particularly a deer.
  4. (US, slang, chiefly with "for") To defend or praise, especially that which is unworthy.
    • 2016, Ken Makin, “Clinton-Trump debacle underscores gross misunderstanding of politics”, in Urban Pro Weekly, 6 October - 12 October 2016, page 5:
      A lot of African-Americans believe the answer is Clinton, mostly because "she's not Trump" and because President Barack Obama is shamelessly caping for her.
    • 2017, Laila Nur, quoted in Jordan Green, "Far-right groups converge behind anti-sharia message in Raleigh", Triad City Beat, 14 June - 20 June 2017, page 9:
      Many times, you see white supremacist groups caping for women to mask their agenda of white nationalism.
    • 2017, Mindy Isser [organizer], quoted by Aubrey Whelan [journalist] in "For Philly's socialists, election wins signal momentum", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 15 November 2017:
      "I can't believe I'm out here caping for a politician."
    • 2019 April 3, Julian Lutz, “Elizabeth Warren has authenticity”, in The Hawk, Saint Joseph's University, page 8:
      […] Biden is the old man who once caped for systematic racism; […]
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:cape.
  5. (transitive) To cover (as) with or like a cape.
    • 1988, Susan Lowell, Ganado Red: A Novella and Stories, Milkweed Editions, →ISBN, page 86:
      The white fur that caped his neck and shoulders stood on end.
    • 1991, Terri Valentine, Outlaw’s Kiss, Zebra Books, →ISBN, page 329:
      He shook her gently, combing his fingers through her coppery curls that caped her shoulders like filigree.
    • 1995, Jim Schutze, By Two and Two: The Scandalous Story of Twin Sisters Accused of a Shocking Crime of Passion, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 62:
      He caped the children and draped them in long wraps, wigs, and swords, and then they all went off down the hall, around the house, and into the yard, Jack singing in his high little voice, “Let’s go off adventuring, adventuring, adventuring!”
    • 2014, Kate Meader, Hot and Bothered, Forever, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN:
      Out of the corner of his eye, he saw blatant relief sketched on her face as the jacket caped her body.

Anagrams

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Czech

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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cape

  1. third-person singular present of capat
    Synonym: capá

Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English cape.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cape m (plural capes, diminutive capeje n)

  1. A cape.
    Synonym: mantel

French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Old Occitan capa, from Late Latin cappa (compare the inherited doublet chape; cf. also the Old Northern French variant cape).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cape f (plural capes)

  1. cape

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → English: cape (see there for further descendants)
  • → Romanian: capă

Verb

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cape

  1. inflection of caper:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Galician

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Verb

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cape

  1. inflection of capar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Indonesian

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Adjective

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cape

  1. (colloquial, slang) alternative spelling of capek

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈka.pe/
  • Rhymes: -ape
  • Hyphenation: cà‧pe

Noun

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cape f

  1. plural of capa

Anagrams

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Latin

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Verb

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cape

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of capiō

References

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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cape

  1. Alternative form of cappe

Etymology 2

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Noun

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cape

  1. Alternative form of cope

Neapolitan

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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cape f

  1. plural of capa

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From English cape, from French cape, from Late Latin cappa. Cognate with kappe (“cloak”), kåpe (“cloak”), kapp (“cape, headland”).

Noun

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cape m (definite singular capen, indefinite plural caper, definite plural capene)

  1. a cape (sleeveless garment worn by women, which covers the shoulders and arms)

References

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  • “cape” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
  • “cape” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From English cape, from French cape, from Late Latin cappa.

Noun

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cape m (definite singular capen, indefinite plural capar, definite plural capane)

  1. a cape (sleeveless garment worn by women, which covers the shoulders and arms)

References

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Portuguese

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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cape

  1. inflection of capar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Rukai

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Noun

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cape

  1. seed (of a fruit)

Spanish

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Verb

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cape

  1. inflection of capar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

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Noun

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cape c

  1. cape (sleeveless garment used by women)

Declension

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Declension of cape 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative cape capeen capeer capeerna
Genitive capes capeens capeers capeernas
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