Dictionary

mob cap en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈmɒb kap/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (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.
   • 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. 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 305–306:
   • 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. 1970, John Glassco, Memoirs of Montparnasse, New York, published 2007, page 161:
2. (qualifier:modern-day use) A disposable head covering with an elasticated band, worn for cleanliness in industrial settings.

Forms

Translations (3)

fr charlotte (plain cap or headdress for women or girls) · de Morgenhaube (plain cap or headdress for women or girls) · fr charlotte (disposable head covering with an elasticated band)