bonnet
/ˈbɒnɪt
/noun
1A woman’s or child’s hat tied under the chin and with a brim framing the face.I began tying the bonnet ribbon under my chin as I made my way to her....
- One was for prominent Bollywood directors, the other was for the Jane Austen society who turned up to the screening in Bath dressed in bonnets and top hats.
- To heighten the tension, the Amish group is dressed in traditional attire that includes bonnets and suspenders.
1.1A soft, round brimless hat like a beret, as worn by men and boys in Scotland.His bald head was currently covered with a bonnet....
- As he walks up the final fairway, waving a new tartan bonnet, the crowd rise in tribute to a great champion.
- Armed to the teeth and clad in kilt, tartan hose and bonnet, he looks every inch the clan chieftain.
1.2 Heraldry The velvet cap within a coronet.The Knights and Ladies of the Garter were dressed in dark blue velvet robes, red velvet hoods, and black velvet bonnets topped with swaying ostrich plumes....
- Hanover became a kingdom in 1816, and the bonnet was replaced by a German royal crown.
- Then the royal procession, with Baroness Amos carrying the cap of maintenance, a sort of scarlet bonnet with red trim.
1.3 (also war bonnet) The ceremonial feathered headdress of an American Indian.A respected art dealer is busted for selling a Cheyenne war bonnet....
- Troy made a fabulous war bonnet and reported on the Plains Indians replete with buffalo, tepee, and travois information.
- He removes his war bonnet and plants his sword at the foot of the throne.
2British The hinged metal canopy covering the engine of a motor vehicle.On his arrival the criminals turned their guns on him, shooting his police car three times - damaging his vehicle bonnet, windshield and engine....
- Progress was slow - is there really a 2-litre engine under the bonnet?
- The front bonnet affords extra crumple space in the event of an accident, and both driver and passenger airbags are standard.
3A cowl on a chimney.Bonnet cowl with collar available with 75mm deep collar for ornamental chimney pots....
- Should I not have the Chimney Cowl in stock I will put on the Mesh Bonnet Cowl (pictured above right), these both cost the same to supply and fit.
- This is a method and apparatus for providing a flashing system for a chimney-bonnet positioned on a chimney of a building structure.
4 Sailing, historical An additional canvas laced to the foot of a sail to catch more wind.For fine weather sailing one or two ‘bonnets’ are added to the foot of the sail; we sailed with one bonnet of 210 sqft added to the main....
- When a greater spread of sail was required, a piece called a bonnet was added to the foot of the sail, and a further piece called a drabbler could be added to that.
- When you shortened sail, you began by lowering the yard a bit, removing a bonnet, and re-reeving tacks and sheets.
Derivatives
bonneted
- The lady wears a lavender dress; her white gloved hands and bonneted head are like blossoms sprouting from her wrists and neck.
- The only interesting variation comes when the adenoidal Raymond ‘develops a sudden physical crush on Desmond's bonneted Lady Chatterley.’
- ‘Wholesome’ is the clear message that the company's trademark image - a smiling, bonneted girl carrying a basket of sunny California's bounty - is meant to convene.
Origin
Late Middle English (denoting a soft brimless hat for men): from Old French bonet, from medieval Latin abonnis 'headgear'. sense 1 dates from the late 15th century.
A type of soft brimless hat for men was once known as a bonnet. The source is Old French bonet, from medieval Latin abonnis ‘headgear’. In the late 15th century it came to be used for the distinctive type of hat worn by a woman or a child with a brim framing the face and ribbons tied under the chin.