cowl

Meanings

Noun

• A monk's hood that can be pulled forward to cover the face; a robe with such a hood attached to it.
• A mask that covers the majority of the head.
• A thin protective covering over all or part of an engine; also cowling.
• A usually hood-shaped covering used to increase the draft of a chimney and prevent backflow.
• A ship's ventilator with a bell-shaped top which can be swivelled to catch the wind and force it below.
• A vertical projection of a ship's funnel that directs the smoke away from the bridge.
• A monk.
• A vessel carried on a pole, a soe.
• A caul .

Verb

• To cover with, or as if with, a cowl (hood).
• To wrap or form (something made of fabric) like a cowl.
• To make a monk of (a person).

Origin

• From Middle English coule, from Old English cūle, from earlier cugele, from Ecclesiastical Latin cuculla ("monk's cowl"), from Latin cucullus ("hood"), of uncertain origin. cagoule.
• From Middle English cuuel, from Old French cuvel ("vat"), diminutive of cuve, from Latin cūpa ("tub, cask, tun, vat").
• See caul, probably altered due to semantic association (“something covering the head”).