Dictionary

biretta en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian biretta, berretta. Doublet of beret.

Meanings

1. A square cap, originally with four ridges across the top, surmounted by a tuft, worn by Roman Catholic clergy (and by some in the Anglican Church). A three-sided biretta is worn by Roman Catholic clergy for liturgical celebrations.
   • It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
   • To right and left, embedded in their stalls, the other canons sit reverently engrossed, birettas hung on the walls behind; […] 1964, Jan Morris, Spain, Faber and Faber, published 2008, →ISBN:

Forms

Deriveds

biretta'd

Translations (11)

pl biret (square cap) · ga birréad (square cap) · it berretta (square cap) · fr barrette (square cap) · es birreta (square cap) · ja ビレッタ帽 (square cap) · pt barrete (square cap) · cmn 四角帽 (square cap) · ca birreta (square cap) · de Birett (square cap) · tl bireta (square cap)