Cape

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /keɪp/

Definitions

1. A sleeveless garment that fastens at the neck and hangs loosely from the shoulders
2. A type of outerwear that is secured at the neck and flows freely over the shoulders, often used for covering or as fashion
3. A piece of clothing without sleeves that attaches around the neck and drapes over the shoulders ; a landform that juts out into a sea, ocean, or lake, creating a prominent protrusion

Etymology: The garment and the headland are the same word, and the link runs through the head. Old French "cap" meant both "cape" (the garment) and "headland," and both descend from Latin "caput," "head." A cape on the coast is a head of land pushing out into the sea, and a cloak is a covering for the head and shoulders, so the two senses grew from the same image. The garment sense arrived in English in Middle English from Old French, and the spelling and sound have stayed close to the original. Around the same time, English also took the headland sense directly from the same French source, so the two senses entered the language together rather than one developing from the other. A cape is therefore a doublet of "chief," "chef," and "capo," all of which trace back to "caput." The superhero sense is a later and separate development from French "cape," borrowed from Old Occitan "capa" and Late Latin "cappa," which was a cloak; it is a doublet of those forms as well.

Synonyms: cloak, mantle, shawl, wrap, overgarment

Antonyms: exposure, bare, nudity