chaperon

Meanings

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.
• 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.
• A device placed on the foreheads of horses which draw the hearse in pompous funerals.

Verb

• to accompany, to escort
• to mother

Origin

• From French chaperon, from Middle French, "head covering", from Old French chape