Two bonnets for sale at an open market.
- in Scotland, a flat, brimless cap, worn by men and boys
- a hat with a chin ribbon, worn by children and women
- Informal any hat worn by women or girls
- a metal covering, hood, or cowl, as over a fireplace, stove, or chimney for draft or ventilation
- Brit. an automobile hood
- Naut. a strip of canvas fastened by lacing to the bottom of a sail to increase sail area
Origin of bonnetMiddle English and amp; Old French bonet ; from Medieval Latin bonitum aphetic ; from abonnis, kind of cap
- a. A hat of cloth or straw, often held in place by ribbons tied under the chin, that is worn by women and children.b. Scots A brimless cap worn by men or boys.
- A removable metal plate over a machine part, such as a valve.
- Chiefly British The hood of an automobile.
- a. A windscreen for a chimney.b. A cover for a fireplace.
- Nautical A strip of canvas laced to a fore-and-aft sail to increase sail area.
transitive verbbon·net·ed, bon·net·ing, bon·nets
Origin of bonnetMiddle English bonet, cap, from Old French, material for a headdress, perhaps from Medieval Latin obbonis, probably of Germanic origin.
- A type of hat, once worn by women or children, held in place by ribbons tied under the chin.
- A traditional Scottish woollen brimless cap; a bunnet.
- (by extension) The polishing head of a power buffer, often made of wool.
- (Australia, UK, New Zealand, South Africa, automotive) The hinged cover over the engine of a motor car; a hood.
- (nautical) A length of canvas attached to a fore-and-aft sail to increase the pulling power.
- The second stomach of a ruminant.
- Anything resembling a bonnet (hat) in shape or use.
- A small defence work at a salient angle; or a part of a parapet elevated to screen the other part from enfilade fire.
- A metallic canopy, or projection, over an opening, as a fireplace, or a cowl or hood to increase the draught of a chimney, etc.
- A frame of wire netting over a locomotive chimney, to prevent escape of sparks.
- A roofing over the cage of a mine, to protect its occupants from objects falling down the shaft.
- In pumps, a metal covering for the openings in the valve chambers.
(third-person singular simple present bonnets, present participle bonneting, simple past and past participle bonneted)
- (dated) To pull the bonnet or cap down over the head of.
From Middle English bonet, from Middle French bonet (Modern French bonnet), from Old French bonet (“material from which hats are made”), from Frankish *bunni (“that which is bound”), from Proto-Germanic *bundiją (“bundle”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”). Compare also Late Latin abbonis, obbonis (“ribbon of a headdress”), also of Germanic origin, from Frankish *obbunni, from *ob- (“above, over”) + *bunni. Cognate with Old High German gibunt (“band, ribbon”), Middle Dutch bont (“bundle, truss”), Gothic (gabundi, “bond”). More at over, bundle.