caul

¹ American  

[kawl] / kɔl /

noun

1. a part of the amnion sometimes covering the head of a child at birth.

2. greater omentum.

3. a net lining in the back of a woman's cap or hat.

4. a cap or hat of net formerly worn by women.

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caul ² American  

[kawl] / kɔl /

noun

1. a form or plate for pressing a veneer or veneers being glued to a backing or to each other.

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caul British  

/ kɔːl /

noun

1. a portion of the amniotic sac sometimes covering a child's head at birth

2. a large fold of peritoneum hanging from the stomach across the intestines; the large omentum

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Etymology

Origin of caul¹

1300–50; Middle English calle < Middle French cale, probably back formation from calotte “kind of cap”; see calotte

Origin of caul²

< French cale shim < German Keil wedge

Explanation

A caul is a membrane or thin piece of skin that sometimes covers a newborn baby's head. The caul is part of the anmniotic sac that protects a fetus before birth. Most mammals are enclosed within a protective membrane before they're born, and when part of this membrane is attached to a newborn, it's called a caul. Possibly because it's so rare for a baby to be born with this caul covering his or her head, it's been considered good luck since medieval times. The word once referred to a woman's close-fitting hat, from the French word cale, "cap," with a Latin root, calautica, "type of women's headdress."

Example Sentences

I'm loving Savannah’s momentum right now, too — peaking at the right time, especially with Danny’s rare caul fat stumble, Michelle’s inconsistency and Manny’s apparently becoming monotonous for the judges.

From Salon • May 22, 2024

Early in the novel, Chuluun reveals that he and his brother were born with a caul — each of their faces shrouded in a thin layer of amniotic membrane.

From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2022

Under the light of an iPhone, Stavrou gently wraps the outstretched caul fat around a ball of mince to make the sausage.

From The Guardian • Sep. 12, 2018

How could we possibly trust any creature that comes into the world wearing such a caul of ambiguity?

From The New Yorker • Oct. 6, 2014

One baby dead, one born with a caul, and one trying to grow twelve fingers—it was enough for all the would-be mothers to go to Charity.

From "Ninth Ward" by Jewell Parker Rhodes