biretta
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of biretta
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Italian berretta, feminine variant of berretto, from Old Provençal berret, from Medieval Latin birrettum “cap,” equivalent to Late Latin birr(us) “hooded cloak” + -ettum diminutive suffix; apparently by the development: “hooded cloak” to “hood” to “cap”; compare Medieval Latin (circa 800) byrrus “short hood” ( cuculla brevis ); see birrus, -et
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A photograph showed Bishop Joyce, in cassock and biretta, standing in front of a Christmas tree with children on each side.
From The New Yorker • Apr. 8, 2019
When I was in Rome several years ago, I went into one of the hottest clergy-clothing stores to look around, and spotted a biretta!
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2018
Dressed in a crimson cassock and a traditional biretta hat, the Cardinal gave an impassioned speech that the leaders of BPI hope will be a turning point for the historically divisive politics surrounding college-in-prison programs.
From Slate • Jan. 28, 2015
Francis gave the red-and-white-garbed cardinals their square hat, known as a biretta, and their ring of office in the presence of hundreds of other cardinals and bishops during the solemn ceremony inside Christendom's largest church.
From Reuters • Feb. 22, 2014
The master had a cappa or cope, such as a Cambridge Vice-Chancellor wears on Degree Days, with a border and hood of minever, such as Oxford proctors still wear, and a biretta or square cap.
From Life in the Medieval University by Rait, Robert S.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
