zucchetto

American  

[zoo-ket-oh, tsook-ket-taw] / zuˈkɛt oʊ, tsukˈkɛt tɔ /

noun

zucchettos, plural zucchetti plural

1. a small, round skullcap worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, a priest's being black, a bishop's violet, a cardinal's red, and the pope's white; calotte.

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zucchetto British  

/ zuː-, suː-, tsuːˈkɛtəʊ /

noun

1. RC Church a small round skullcap worn by certain ecclesiastics and varying in colour according to the rank of the wearer, the Pope wearing white, cardinals red, bishops violet, and others black

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Etymology

Origin of zucchetto

1850–55; < Italian, variant of zucchetta, diminutive of zucca gourd, head, perhaps < pre-Indo-European *tjukka gourd

Explanation

A zucchetto is a type of hat, but not one you'll see in trendy stores. It's a small, round, brimless cap worn by some religious leaders in the Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, and Anglican churches. This cap looks similar to the yarmulke or kippah worn by Jewish men, but the two developed independently. Unlike the kippah, the zucchetto is usually made of seven or eight triangular pieces, with a tiny stem on the top. The color of the zucchetto indicates the wearer's rank. The word zucchetto comes from the Italian word zucca meaning both "gourd" and "head," plus an ending that makes things smaller. So while it literally means "little gourd," the actual meaning is the (slightly more mundane) "small cap."

Example Sentences

Fiennes’ dome may be closely shorn, but his Cardinal packs plenty of blackmail material underneath his zucchetto.

From Salon • Nov. 22, 2024

The boy several times pointed to the pope's white skull cap, known as a zucchetto.

From Reuters • Oct. 20, 2021

Admittedly, it didn’t do as much work as it should, since the pope in question turned out to be a grown man in his mid-forties and not, say, a badass toddler in a massive zucchetto.

From The Guardian • May 17, 2017

He was wearing a pink zucchetto skullcap and an amaranth sash tied around his black cassock.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 14, 2017

The old man answered promptly:— "The zucchetto, or pileolus, is removed at the end of the last secret prayer, and resumed after the ablutions."

From My New Curate by Sheehan, Patrick Augustine