chaperon
UK/ˈʃæ.pəˌɹəʊn/US/ˈʃæ.pəˌɹoʊn/
chaperon noun: an adult who accompanies or supervises one or more young, unmarried men or women during social occasions, usually with the specific intent of preventing some types of social or sexual interactions or illegal behavior.
Noun
chaperon (plural chaperons)
- An adult who accompanies or supervises one or more young, unmarried men or women during social occasions, usually with the specific intent of preventing some types of social or sexual interactions or illegal behavior.
- "I am, as it were," she concluded, "the chaperon of my young cousin, Lucy, and it would be a serious thing if I put her under an obligation to people of whom we know nothing. His manner was somewhat unfortunate. I hope I acted for the best."1908, E. M. Forster, “I”, in A Room with a View
- A type of hood, often ornamental or official, with an attached cape and a tail, later worn as a hat with the face hole put over the top of the head instead.
- His head and face cover'd with a chaperon, out of which there are but two holes to look through.1655, James Howell, “To the Right Honourable the Lord Mohun”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. […], 3rd edition, volume (please specify the page), London: […] Humphrey...
- A device placed on the foreheads of horses which draw the hearse in pompous funerals.
Verb
chaperon (third-person singular simple present chaperons, present participle chaperoning, simple past and past participle chaperoned)
Forms of chaperon
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | chaperons |
| alternative form | chaperone |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | chaperons |
| present participle | chaperoning |
| past participle | chaperoned |
| past | chaperoned |
Origin of chaperon
From French chaperon (“hood”), from Middle French, "head covering", from Old French chape.
Words formed from chaperon
Questions about chaperon
- What does chaperon mean?
- Chaperon means an adult who accompanies or supervises one or more young, unmarried men or women during social occasions, usually with the specific intent of preventing some types of social or sexual interactions or illegal behavior.
- What part of speech is chaperon?
- Chaperon can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce chaperon?
- Chaperon is pronounced /ˈʃæ.pəˌɹoʊn/ (US).
- What is the plural of chaperon?
- The plural of chaperon is chaperons.
Words near chaperon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chaperon (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “chaperon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chaperon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.