Jump To:

• cape
  cape

  noun

  a sleeveless garment of various lengths, fastened around the neck and falling loosely from the shoulders, worn separately or attached to a coat or other outer garment.
• Cape
  Cape

  noun

  the SW region of South Africa, in Western Cape province

cape

¹ American  

[keyp] / keɪp /

noun

1. a sleeveless garment of various lengths, fastened around the neck and falling loosely from the shoulders, worn separately or attached to a coat or other outer garment.

2. the capa of a bullfighter.

---

verb (used with object)

caped, caping

1. (of a matador or capeador during a bullfight) to induce and guide the charge of (a bull) by flourishing a capa.

cape ² American  

[keyp] / keɪp /

noun

1. a piece of land jutting into the sea or some other large body of water.

   Synonyms:

   spit, headland, promontory, point

2. the Cape.

   1. Northeastern U.S. Cape Cod.

   2. Cape of Good Hope.

3. capeskin.

---

verb (used without object)

caped, caping

1. Nautical. (of a ship) to have good steering qualities.

adjective

1. Cape, pertaining to the Cape of Good Hope or to South Africa.

   a Cape diamond.

cape ¹ British  

/ keɪp /

noun

1. a headland or promontory

---

Cape ² British  

/ keɪp /

noun

1. the SW region of South Africa, in Western Cape province

2. See Cape of Good Hope

---

cape ³ British  

/ keɪp /

noun

1. a sleeveless garment like a cloak but usually shorter

2. a strip of material attached to a coat or other garment so as to fall freely, usually from the shoulders

---

cape Scientific  

/ kāp /

1. A point or head of land projecting into a body of water.

---

Other Word Forms

• caped
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of cape¹

First recorded in 1610–20; from French cap(p)e, from Spanish capa or Italian cappa, from Late Latin cappa “hooded cloak”; see also cope ²

Origin of cape²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English cap, from Middle French, from Old Provençal cap or Italian capo, from Vulgar Latin capum (unrecorded) for Latin caput “head”

Explanation

Superman is easily recognizable by his red cape, a sleeveless garment that hangs from his shoulders and rustles in the wind when he flies. The word cape comes from the Latin cappa meaning "covering for the head." Capes aren't just worn by superheroes. A poncho is a type of cape that you wear in the rain to stay dry. Speaking of water, a cape is also a stretch of land that extends into a body of water — like Cape Cod, which extends into the Atlantic Ocean.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cape Cape caped caping

This week, the leader of our second-most-popular political party could be unseated in an election by a man who wears a floor-length cape and a bin over his head.

From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026

He arrives at election counts wearing a metallic dustbin-shaped helmet, a silver cape and silver-and-black armour and brandishing his razor-sharp, deadpan sense of humour.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Then there’s the cashmere embroidered rabbit cape by Gucci, which she purchased secondhand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

And who should arrive to put a button on the story but Superman, welcoming his cousin back to Metropolis with open arms and a flowing cape.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

The guard had paused to unstrap a long military cape fastened to the shoulder of her uniform.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

“I went in with some friends on a summer share in Cape Cod. It was what my friends were doing, and that was enough for me,” he writes.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

But it’s not just the island’s evil nature that proves a foil to Tom’s ambitions to turn the town into a New England attraction that rivals Cape Cod or Martha’s Vineyard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

It will then move through its last launch readiness activities before being transported to Cape Canaveral.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

Their current squad includes on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, as well as a couple of Cape Verde's World Cup stars in Wagner Pina and Sidny Lopes Cabral.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

At sixteen he joined the merchant marine, and his first voyage took him around Cape Horn in the winter: it was his first experience of the Southern Ocean.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Now he is set on unmasking the caped crusader.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

That belief is patently untrue, but more difficult to measure if filmmakers and studios refuse to take a real chance on their caped crusadettes.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

Presiding over the baddies, Jared Leto’s blue-skinned, caped, literally boneheaded man-demon Skeletor is meant to be the fiercest of antagonists, but even his own henchmen find his signature evil cackle to be a bit laughable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

Mobile phone footage of the incident was shared on social media, with people praising the "barbershop Batman", "haircut hero", and "caped crusader".

From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2024

He was there, and Mary owned the attraction of the big smiling face and the burly figure, that in a rough, caped riding-coat still kept an air of fashion.

From The Great House by Stanley John Weyman

The pilgrimage, caping Salonen’s “Rituals,” involves dancer and choreographer Dimitri Chamblas, producer Kate Nordstrom and composer Tim Hecker.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

"Superpower" has everything a doubting public could want in the way of reassurance, with its determined hero caping for an embattled nation and who happens to be a huge fan of its president.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2023

In others, however, the writers ply exhausted tropes conflating inclusive storytelling with white savior caping.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2023

All this somehow makes its history-inspired fabrication feel genuine and universal, caping the philosophy that ideals that make the common man super.

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2022

This caping technique, which should be done before field dressing to avoid bloodying the hair and making invasive cuts that will be difficult for the taxidermist to conceal, leaves enough hide for a shoulder mount.

From Time Magazine Archive