"act as a chaperon, attend (an unmarried girl or woman) in public," 1792, also chaperone, from chaperon (n.), or from French chaperonner, from the noun in French. Related: Chaperoned; chaperoning.
mid-14c., "minister of a chapel," from Old French chapelein "clergyman" (Modern French chapelain), from Medieval Latin cappellanus "clergyman," literally "custodian of (St. Martin's) cloak;" see chapel.
It replaced late Old English capellane (from the same Medieval Latin source), the sense of which was "clergyman who conducts private religious services," originally in great households; this sense continued in chaplain and later was extended to clergymen in military regiments, prisons, etc.
place in Dukes County, Massachusetts; from a native New England Algonquian language, literally "island adjacent to the mainland."
1844, American English, short for chaparejos, from Mexican Spanish chaparreras, leather overalls worn to protect riders' legs from the chaparro (see chaparral).
"peddler, itinerant tradesman," Middle English form of Old English ceapman "tradesman," from West Germanic compound *kaupman- (source also of Old High German choufman, German Kauffman, Middle Dutch and Dutch koopman), formed with equivalents of man (n.) + West Germanic *kaup- (source also of Old Saxon cop, Old Frisian kap "trade, purchase," Middle Dutch coop, Dutch koop "trade, market, bargain," kauf "trader," Old English ceap "barter, business; a purchase").
This is from Proto-Germanic *kaupōn- (source also of Danish kjøb "purchase, bargain," Old Norse kaup "bargain, pay;" compare also Old Church Slavonic kupiti "to buy," a Germanic loan-word), probably an early Germanic borrowing (Boutkan says 1c. C.E.) from Latin caupo (genitive cauponis) "petty tradesman, huckster, peddler," which is of unknown origin.
Compare cheap (adj.). In Middle English and later, chapman also could mean "a customer, purchaser." In a c. 1200 work the Devil is þe chapmon of helle as "the purchaser of souls."
"dense, low shrub thicket," 1850, American English, from Spanish chaparro "evergreen oak," perhaps from Basque txapar "little thicket," diminutive of sapar "heath, thicket."
In Spain, a chaparral is a bush of a species of oak. The termination al signifies a place abounding in; as, chaparral, a place of oak-bushes, almendral, an almond orchard; parral, a vineyard; cafetal, a coffee plantation, etc., etc.
This word, chaparral, has been introduced into the language since our acquisition of Texas and New Mexico, where these bushes abound. It is a series of thickets, of various sizes, from one hundred yards to a mile through, with bushes and briars, all covered with thorns, and so closely entwined together as almost to prevent the passage of any thing larger than a wolf or hare. [John Russell Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1859]
early 13c., "subordinate place of worship added to or forming part of a large church or cathedral, separately dedicated and devoted to special services," from Old French chapele (12c., Modern French chapelle), from Medieval Latin capella, cappella "chapel, sanctuary for relics," literally "little cape," diminutive of Late Latin cappa "cape" (see cap (n.)).
By tradition, the name is originally in reference to the sanctuary in France in which the miraculous cape of St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of France, was preserved. (While serving Rome as a soldier deployed in Gaul, Martin cut his military coat in half to share it with a ragged beggar. That night, Martin dreamed Christ wearing the half-cloak; the half Martin kept was the relic.) The other theory is that it comes from Medieval Latin capella in a literal sense of "canopy, hood" and is a reference to the "covering" of the altar when Mass is said.
The word spread to most European languages (German Kapelle, Italian cappella, etc.). In English from 17c. it was used also of places of worship other than those of the established church.
"garland or wreath for the head," late 14c., from Old French chapelet (Old North French capelet) "garland, rosary," properly "a small hat," diminutive of chape, chapeau "head-dress, hood, hat" (see chapeau).
"a hat," 1520s, from French chapeau (Old French capel, 12c.) "hat," from Vulgar Latin *cappellus, from Late Latin capellum (also source of Italian cappello, Spanish capelo, Portuguese chapeo), diminutive of cappa (see cap (n.)). Especially a hat forming part of an official costume or uniform.
