zucchetto, n.

zucchetto
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zucchetto_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1921; not fully revised

# zucchettonoun

## Earlier version

- zucchetto in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zucchetto mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zucchetto. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the noun zucchetto?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1850 | 0.0059
1860 | 0.006
1870 | 0.0055
1880 | 0.0053
1890 | 0.0044
1900 | 0.0042
1910 | 0.0036
1920 | 0.0039
1930 | 0.0033
1940 | 0.0031
1950 | 0.0029
1960 | 0.0029
1970 | 0.0031
1980 | 0.0032
1990 | 0.0032
2000 | 0.0034
2010 | 0.0038

### How is the noun zucchetto pronounced?

#### British English

/tsʊˈkɛtəʊ/
tsuuk-E-toh
/zʊˈkɛtəʊ/
zuuk-E-toh

#### U.S. English

/(t)suˈkɛdoʊ/
tsoo-KED-oh
/zuˈkɛdoʊ/
zoo-KED-oh

### Where does the noun zucchetto come from?

Earliest known use

1850s

The earliest known use of the noun zucchetto is in the 1850s.

OED's earliest evidence for zucchetto is from 1853, in a translation by J. D. H. Dale.

zucchetto is a borrowing from Italian.

Etymons: Italian zucchetta.

### Nearby entries

1. zounds, int. a1593–
2. Zou-Zou, n. 1860–
3. zowie, int. 1902–
4. zoysia, n. 1965–
5. ZPG, n. 1970–
6. Zr, n. 1814–
7. zubr, n. 1763–
8. zubrowka, n. 1916–
9. zucarine, adj. a1425
10. zucca, n. 1818–
11. zucchetto, n.1853–
12. zucchini, n. 1916–
13. zuche, n. 1358–1676
14. Zuckerkandl, n. 1910–
15. zufolo, n. 1724–
16. zug, n. 1899–
17. zugtrompete, n. 1978–
18. Zugunruhe, n. 1950–
19. Zugzwang, n. 1904–
20. zule | zulis, n. 1780–
21. Zulu, n. & adj. 1824–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Italian.
Etymon: Italian zucchetta.
< Italian zucchetta /tsukˈkɛtta/ (also zucchetto) small gourd, cap. < zucca gourd, the head.

## Meaning & use

1. 1853–
   The skull-cap of an ecclesiastic, differing in colour according to rank.
   1. 1853

      > They should take off their zucchettos in the act of genuflecting.

      J. D. H. Dale, translation of G. Baldeschi, Ceremonial Roman Rite 3
   2. 1897

      > Instead of the usual college cap the Chapter will appear in zuchettos.

      Westminster Gazette 18 June 3/2
   3. 1901

      > Leo XIII…took off the Zuchetta he had been wearing and gave it to Father O'Brien.

      M. J. F. McCarthy, Five Years Ireland xx. 257
   religion
   1. calotte 1776
      A plain skull-cap; now esp. that worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, etc.; formerly also the coif of a serjeant-at-law.
   2. zucchetto 1853–
      The skull-cap of an ecclesiastic, differing in colour according to rank.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/tsʊˈkɛtəʊ/
tsuuk-E-toh
/zʊˈkɛtəʊ/
zuuk-E-toh

### U.S. English

/(t)suˈkɛdoʊ/
tsoo-KED-oh
/zuˈkɛdoʊ/
zoo-KED-oh

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Forms

### Variant forms

Also zucchetta, zuchetta, zuchetto.

## Frequency

zucchetto typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zucchetto is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zucchetto, n., 1850–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1850 | 0.0059
1860 | 0.006
1870 | 0.0055
1880 | 0.0053
1890 | 0.0044
1900 | 0.0042
1910 | 0.0036
1920 | 0.0039
1930 | 0.0033
1940 | 0.0031
1950 | 0.0029
1960 | 0.0029
1970 | 0.0031
1980 | 0.0032
1990 | 0.0032
2000 | 0.0034
2010 | 0.0038

zucchetto, n. was first published in 1921; not fully revised.

zucchetto, n. was last modified in December 2024.