cap

{{11}}cap (n.) O.E. cæppe "hood, head-covering, cape," from L.L. cappa "a cape, hooded cloak," possibly a shortened from capitulare "headdress," from L. caput "head" (see HEAD (Cf. head)). Meaning "women's head covering" is early 13c. in English; extended to men late 14c. Of cap-like coverings on the ends of anything (e.g. hub-cap) from mid-15c. Meaning "contraceptive device" is first recorded 1916. "Cap-shaped piece of copper lined with gunpowder and used to ignite a gun" is c.1826; extended to paper version used in toy pistols, 1872.

The Late Latin word apparently originally meant "a woman's head-covering," but the sense was transferred to "hood of a cloak," then to "cloak" itself, though the various senses co-existed. Old English took in two forms of the Late Latin word, one meaning "head-covering," the other "ecclesiastical dress" (see CAPE (Cf. cape) (1)). In most Romance languages, a diminutive of L.L. cappa has become the usual word for "head-covering" (Cf. Fr. chapeau).

{{12}}cap (v.) c.1400, "to put a cap on," from CAP (Cf. cap) (n.). Meaning "to excell" is from 1821, originally dialectal. Related: Capped; capping.