CHAPERON

Chaperon

Chaperon was a form of hood or, later, highly versatile hat worn in all parts of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Initially a utilitarian garment, it first grew a long partly decorative tail behind, and then developed into a complex, versatile and expensive headgear after what was originally the vertical opening for the face began to be used as a horizontal opening for the head. It was especially fashionable in mid-15th century Burgundy, before gradually falling out of fashion in the late 15th century and returning to its utilitarian status. It is the most commonly worn male headgear in Early Netherlandish painting, but its complicated construction is often misunderstood.

The above text is a snippet from Wikipedia: Chaperon (headgear)
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chaperon

Noun

  1. An adult who accompanies or supervises one or more young, unmarried men or women during social occasions, usually with the specific intent of preventing some types of social or sexual interactions or illegal behavior.
  2. A hood, especially, an ornamental or official hood.
  3. A device placed on the foreheads of horses which draw the hearse in pompous funerals.

Verb

  1. to accompany, to escort
  2. to mother


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: chaperon
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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