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

Most of the hotels and restaurants were shuttered and, even to my untrained eye, a heavy caul of menace hung about the place.

From Salon • May 5, 2019

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

When guests — and their pilot — arrive, a feast awaits them, including air-dried, fermented sheep’s leg and fresh sausage wrapped in a mass of intestinal caul fat.

From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2015

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

Jorge tells me there’s been only one boy bom to each generation of del Pinos and each had a caul.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García