liberty cap

noun

1. a soft, conical cap given to a freed slave in ancient Rome at manumission of his servitude, used as a symbol of liberty, especially since the 18th century.

liberty cap

noun

1. a cap of soft felt worn as a symbol of liberty, esp during the French Revolution, from the practice in ancient Rome of giving a freed slave such a cap
2. a poisonous hallucinogenic basidiomycetous fungus, Psilocybe semilanceata, yellowish-brown with a distinctive pointed cap, found in groups in grassland

Word History and Origins

Origin of liberty cap¹

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

As you looked at certain works, it became difficult to tell whether the abstract shape was derived from the liberty cap or the shackle.

From Washington Post

They were particularly incensed by the woollen red liberty caps – symbols of the French revolutionaries – dangling from the poles.

From The Guardian

They would watch the executions calmly - knitting the symbolic red "liberty cap" between deaths, according to some stories.

From BBC

He rapidly deduced that I had purchased Psilocybe semilanceata, also known as liberty caps, indigenous to the Pacific Northwest and other cool, moist climes.

From Scientific American

Mr. Morris spent several miserable nights in a Brazilian village waiting for a frog that didn’t arrive and in Reykjavik discovering that the liberty cap mushrooms he planned to ingest were out of season.

From New York Times