1554: chaperon Mar 16, 2019

When we think of the word ‘chaperon’ today, it is will almost certainly refer to a person, but this was not always the case. Indeed, even in an old-fashioned, dated sense of the word denoting a person who would look after one woman in particular to make sure she didn’t do anything deviant, this refers to a person. However, in he Middle Ages and onwards, the word simply denoted a type of hood with shoulder covering, that was quite fashionable. Over time the sense of being covered and protected transferred to a person.