caparison
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle French caparasson (Modern French caparaçon), from Old Spanish caparazón, from Old Occitan capairon.
Noun
[edit]caparison (plural caparisons)
- The often ornamental coverings for an animal, especially a horse or an elephant.
- 1861, Charlotte Guest, transl., The Mabinogion/The Dream of Rhonabwy, translation of original in Middle Welsh:
- And the green of the caparison of the horse, and of his rider, was as green as the leaves of the fir-tree, and the yellow was as yellow as the blossom of the broom.
- 2001, Walter A. Liedtke, Vermeer and the Delft School[1], page 520:
- That very year they received an order from Gustaf II Adolf of Sweden (1594-1632) for a large number of tapestries and four caparisons.
- Gay or rich clothing.
- 1749, [Tobias George Smollett], The Regicide: Or, James the First, of Scotland. A Tragedy. […], London: […] [F]or the benefit of the author, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv, page 37:
- What boots it, that my Fortune decks me thus / With unſubſtantial Plumes; when my Heart groans / Beneath the gay Capariſon, and Love / With unrequited Paſſion wounds my Soul!
Translations
[edit]coverings for an animal, often ornamental
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Verb
[edit]caparison (third-person singular simple present caparisons, present participle caparisoning, simple past and past participle caparisoned)
- To dress up a horse or elephant with ornamental coverings.
- 1593, Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 5, Scene 3:
- Come, bustle, bustle; caparison my horse