bonnet

—bonnetless, adj. —bonnetlike, adj.

/bon"it/, n.

1. a hat, usually tying under the chin and often framing the face, formerly much worn by women but now worn mostly by children.

2. Informal. any hat worn by women.

3. Chiefly Scot. a man's or boy's cap.

4. a bonnetlike headdress: an Indian war bonnet.

5. any of various hoods, covers, or protective devices.

6. a cowl, hood, or wind cap for a fireplace or chimney, to stabilize the draft.

7. the part of a valve casing through which the stem passes and that forms a guide and seal for the stem.

8. a chamber at the top of a hot-air furnace from which the leaders emerge.

9. Chiefly Brit. an automobile hood.

10. Naut. a supplementary piece of canvas laced to the foot of a fore-and-aft sail, esp. a jib, in light winds.

v.t.

11. to put a bonnet on.

[1375-1425; late ME bonet < MF; OF bonet material from which hats are made, perh. < Old Low Franconian *bunni something bound ( < Gmc *bund-, n. deriv. of *bind- BIND; cf. BUNDLE), with -et -ET; cf. LL abonnis, obbonis ribbon forming part of a headdress < Gmc, with a prefix corresponding to MHG obe- ABOVE]

* * *