mob cap

See also: mobcap

English

Alternative forms

• mob-cap
• mobcap

Etymology

From mob (“unruly group”) + cap (“hat”), in reference to the riots of French Revolution.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒb kap/

• Audio (US):

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Noun

mob cap (plural mob caps)

1. (chiefly historical) A plain cap or headdress for women or girls, especially one tied under the chin by a very broad band, and having a puffy crown and frills.
   • 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 305–306:

     You must get a brown gown, and a white apron, and a mob cap, and we must make you a few wrinkles, and a little of the crowsfoot at the corner of your eyes, and you will be a very proper, little old woman.

   • 1970, John Glassco, Memoirs of Montparnasse, New York, published 2007, page 161:

     She was dressed entirely in flowing black cerements and wore a little lacy mob-cap on a mass of dead-looking yellowish white hair; her features were still beautiful, but her face was completely covered with mauve face-powder.

2. (modern-day use) A disposable head covering with an elasticated band, worn for cleanliness in industrial settings.

Translations

plain cap or headdress for women or girls

• French: charlotte (fr) f
• German: Morgenhaube f

disposable head covering with an elasticated band

• French: charlotte (fr) f

Further reading

• mob cap on Wikipedia.Wikipedia