bonnet

¹

[ bon-it ]

noun

1. a hat, usually tying under the chin and often framing the face, formerly much worn by women but now worn mostly by children.
2. Informal. any hat worn by women.
3. Chiefly Scot. a man's or boy's cap.
4. a bonnetlike headdress:

   an Indian war bonnet.

5. any of various hoods, covers, or protective devices.
6. a cowl, hood, or wind cap for a fireplace or chimney, to stabilize the draft.
7. the part of a valve casing through which the stem passes and that forms a guide and seal for the stem.
8. a chamber at the top of a hot-air furnace from which the leaders emerge.
9. Chiefly British. an automobile hood.
10. Nautical. a supplementary piece of canvas laced to the foot of a fore-and-aft sail, especially a jib, in light winds.

verb (used with object)

1. to put a bonnet on.

Bonnet

²

[ baw-ne ]

noun

1. Georges [zhaw, r, zh], 1889–1973, French statesman.

bonnet

/ ˈbɒnɪt /

noun

1. any of various hats worn, esp formerly, by women and girls, usually framing the face and tied with ribbons under the chin
2. Also calledin Scotlandbunnetˈbʌnɪt
   1. a soft cloth cap
   2. formerly, a flat brimless cap worn by men
3. the hinged metal part of a motor vehicle body that provides access to the engine, or to the luggage space in a rear-engined vehicle
4. a cowl on a chimney
5. nautical a piece of sail laced to the foot of a foresail to give it greater area in light winds
6. (in the US and Canada) a headdress of feathers worn by some tribes of American Indians, esp formerly as a sign of war

Bonnet

/ bô-nĕ′ /

1. Swiss naturalist who discovered parthenogenesis when he observed that aphid eggs could develop without fertilization. Bonnet was also one of the first scientists to study photosynthesis.

Other Words From

• bonnet·less adjective
• bonnet·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bonnet¹

1375–1425; late Middle English bonet < Middle French; Old French bonet material from which hats are made, perhaps < Old Low Franconian *bunni something bound (< Germanic *bund-, noun derivative of *bind- bind; bundle ), with -et -et; compare Late Latin abonnis, obbonis ribbon forming part of a headdress < Germanic, with a prefix corresponding to Middle High German obe- above

Word History and Origins

Origin of bonnet¹

C14: from Old French bonet , from Medieval Latin abonnis , of unknown origin

Idioms and Phrases

see bee in one's bonnet .

Example Sentences

Some abandoned vehicles that look pretty much intact, apart from a dented bonnet here or a flat tyre there, are not spared either.

From BBC

Flynn, writing in the Press and Journal, confirmed he was throwing his "bonnet in the ring".

From BBC

The 11 ingredients in the book — beans, calabaza, cassava, chayote, coconut, cornmeal, okra, plantains, rice, salted cod and scotch bonnet peppers — are all inherently Caribbean ingredients.

From Salon

Mr Goss said finding an otter in an engine was not something they had come across before, with squirrels the animals most likely to be found under the bonnet.

From BBC

On the bonnet of the cars, small flags identified the foreign delegations.

From BBC