bonnet

UK/ˈbɒnɪt//ˈbɑnɪt/

bonnet noun: a type of hat, once widely worn by women or children, held in place by ribbons tied under the chin; now uncommonly worn except in certain religious sects.

Image: Гравюра с портрета Ф.Крюгера, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

bonnet (plural bonnets)

A type of hat, once widely worn by women or children, held in place by ribbons tied under the chin; now uncommonly worn except in certain religious sects.
- In the hall, Scarlett saw a bonnet and put it on hurriedly, tying the ribbons under her chin. It was Melanie's black mourning bonnet and it did not fit Scarlett's head but she could not recall where she had put her own bonnet.1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XXIII, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 382
- “Now,” said he, “put such a bonnet as that in the show window.” He did not fill his show-window up town with a lot of hats and bonnets to drive people away, and then sit on the back stairs and bawl because people went to Wanamaker's to trade.2008, Russell H. Conwell, Robert Shackleton, Acres of Diamonds, page 37
A traditional Scottish woollen brimless cap; a bunnet.
- A shock-head of red hair, which the hat and periwig of the Lowland costume had in a great measure concealed, was seen beneath the Highland bonnet, and verified the epithet of Roy, or Red, by which he was much better known in the low country than by any other, and is still, I suppose, best...1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Rob Roy. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst...
Synonyms:

tam o'shanter
A mushroom-shaped satin cap with an elastic headband used to protect kinky hair, especially while sleeping.
- Even dressing, you know, back in the day, you only had two pair of pants, those two pair of pants better be polished and clean every day, even if those were the only two pair of pants you had. Nowadays it's like, nobody cares, people walk around with bonnets on their head, and there's no sense of...2016, 50:10 from the start, in [Rochester, New York sociolinguistic interview with 26 year old woman] (WAV), spoken by interviewee (anonymous), Corpus of Regional African American Language, published...
Synonyms:

sleep cap
(broadly) The polishing head of a power buffer, often made of wool.
- Make sure that the power buffer's lamb's-wool bonnet is clean. Change or rinse the bonnet frequently to avoid scratching the finish. Use the bonnet as a mitten to buff in the crevices and other areas that the power buffer can't reach.2008, The Editors of Popular Mechanics, Popular Mechanics Complete Car Care Manual, page 297
(Commonwealth) The hinged cover over the engine of a motor car.
- The car is burgundy red, wide and elegant, ten years old but still the boys are impressed and they run to touch it, pressing sticky handprints against the polished bodywork and trying to climb up onto the bonnet.2003, Jon McGregor, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, page 189
- People were reluctant to slam a bonnet shut in those days. One just did not slam bonnets and doors.2004, David Spencer, quoted in Don Loffler, The FJ Holden: A Favourite Australian Car, page 217
Synonyms:

hood
A length of canvas attached to a fore-and-aft sail to increase the pulling power.
- And standing along to the Westward, this night we tryed with our mayne coarse and bonnet. On Saturday night we came to an anker, in three fathomes against Sewramo.1596, Thomas Masham, “The Third Voyage set forth by Sir Walter Ralegh to Guiana”, in Richard Hakluyt, editor, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffics and Discoveries of the English Nation...
(obsolete, slang) An accomplice of a gambler, auctioneer, etc., who entices others to bet or to bid.
- “All you have to do is to put a sovereign down on my table, and to find the pea, which I put under one of my thimbles. […] Why,” said the man, “I think you would do to be my bonnet.”
  “What would the wages be?” I demanded.
  “Why, to a first-rate bonnet, as I think you would prove, I could afford to...1851, George Borrow, Lavengro; the Scholar—the Gypsy—the Priest. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: John Murray […], →OCLC
The second stomach of a ruminant.
(historical) A ducat, an old Scottish coin worth 40 shillings.
A small defence work at a salient angle; or a part of a parapet elevated to screen the other part from enfilade fire.
A metallic canopy over an opening, such as chimney or fireplace, used to increase draught.
A frame of wire netting over a locomotive chimney, to prevent escape of sparks.

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A roofing over the cage of a mine, to protect its occupants from objects falling down the shaft.
In pumps, a metal covering for the openings in the valve chambers.
A mushroom of the genus Mycena.

Verb

bonnet (third-person singular simple present bonnets, present participle bonneting or bonnetting, simple past and past participle bonneted or bonnetted)

(transitive) To put a bonnet on.
(obsolete) To take off the bonnet or cap as a mark of respect; to uncover.
- Hee hath deſerued worthily of his Countrey, and his aſſent is not by ſuch eaſie degrees as thoſe, who hauing beene ſupple and courteous to the People, Bonnetted, without any further deed, to haue them at all into their eſtimation, and report:c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
(dated, transitive) To pull the bonnet or cap down over the eyes of.
- “You’re a dutiful and affectionate little boy, you are, ain’t you?” said Mr. Weller, “to come a bonnetin’ your father in his old age?”1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Showing How Mr. Samuel Weller Got into Difficulties”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC...
Synonyms:

block

Proper noun capitalized: Bonnet

Bonnet

A surname from French.

bonnet meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

bonnet in Tamil

பெண்ணின் தலையணி, ஆடவரின் மெல்லிய தலைக்கவிகை, பாய்மரத்தோடு இணைக்கப்பட்ட ஒட்டுத்துணி, புகைப்போக்கியின் மேல்மூடி, பல்வேறு இயந்திரங்களின் பூண்மூடி, அசைபோ

bonnet in Marathi

type of women's and children's hat: छादणी chādṇī, छादन chādan, बॉनेट bŏneṭ
cover over the engine of a motor car — see also hood: बॉनेट bŏneṭ

bonnet in Urdu

بونٹ, بونیٹ

More languagesFewer languages

bonnet in Bengali: বনেট, বোনেট
bonnet in Telugu: బోనెట్
bonnet in Malayalam: സ്ത്രീകൾ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്ന ഒരുതരം തൊപ്പി
bonnet in Kannada: ಮುಚ್ಚಳ
bonnet in Punjabi: ਬੋਨਟ, ਬੋਨੇਟ, ਬੋਨੈੱਟ
bonnet in Gujarati: બોનેટ
bonnet in Odia: ବୋନେଟ୍, ବୋନେଟ, ବନେଟ
bonnet in Nepali: बोनेट
bonnet in Arabic: غِطَاء الْرَّأْس ḡiṭāʔ al-rraʔs, قَلَنْسُوَة qalansuwa, كَلَّوْتَة kallawta, غِطَاء الْمُحَرِّك ḡiṭāʔ al-muḥarrik
bonnet in Malay: bonet
bonnet in Persian: کاپوت kâput
bonnet in Thai: ฝากระโปรง grà-bproong

Examples of bonnet in a sentence

Nowadays it's like, nobody cares, people walk around with bonnets on their head, and there's no sense of pride in anything.2016, 50:10 from the start, in [Rochester, New York sociolinguistic interview with 26 year old woman] (WAV), spoken by interviewee...
By about 20 ms, there is contact between the bonnet leading edge and the pedestrian upper leg/pelvis on the struck side, the severity of which depends on the vehicle shape.2009, Ciaran Simms, Denis Wood, Pedestrian and Cyclist Impact: A Biomechanical Perspective, page 38:
Stoll was still standing on the car bonnet with the catch of his large-calibre repeating rifle off.2009, Stefan Aust, Anthea Bell, Baader-Meinhof: the inside story of the R.A.F., page 308:

All 40 example sentences with bonnet

Synonyms of bonnet

Forms of bonnet

Noun
plural	bonnets
alternative form	bunnet
Verb
third-person singular present	bonnets
present participle	bonneting
present participle	bonnetting
past participle	bonneted
past	bonneted
past participle	bonnetted
past	bonnetted

Plural of bonnet: bonnets

Origin of bonnet

From Middle English bonet, from Middle French bonet (Modern French bonnet), from Old French bonet (“material from which hats are made”), from Frankish *bunni (“that which is bound”), from Proto-Germanic *bundiją (“bundle”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”). Compare also Late Latin abbonis, obbonis (“ribbon of a headdress”), also of Germanic origin, from Frankish *obbunni, from *ob- (“above, over”) + *bunni. Cognate with Old High German gibunt (“band, ribbon”), Middle Dutch bont (“bundle, truss”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 (gabundi, “bond”). More at over, bundle.

Variant of Bonnett, ultimately from French.

Phrases with bonnet

1 more phrasesFewer phrases

Scotch bonnet peppers

Words that rhyme with bonnet

sonnet

Questions about bonnet

What does bonnet mean?: Bonnet means a type of hat, once widely worn by women or children, held in place by ribbons tied under the chin; now uncommonly worn except in certain religious sects.
What is bonnet in Hindi?: Bonnet in Hindi is बोनट, बोनेट, बॉनेट. See Bonnet meaning in Hindi.
How do you use bonnet in a sentence?: Nowadays it's like, nobody cares, people walk around with bonnets on their head, and there's no sense of pride in anything.
What part of speech is bonnet?: Bonnet can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce bonnet?: Bonnet is pronounced /ˈbɒnɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of bonnet?: The plural of bonnet is bonnets.

Words near bonnet in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bonnet.ogg, EN-AU ck1 bonnet.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bonnet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bonnet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.