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Glite Dictionary
bicorne

bicorne

1 9.9
A hat with two points and turned-up sides, worn by army officers in the 18th and 19th centuries
  • noun
  • /ˈbaɪ.kɔrn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : bicorne
  • During the historical reenactment, the actor impressed the audience with his authentic bicorne hat.
  • bicorne hat

Examples

  • The general wore a distinctive bicorne at the grand event to showcase his military rank.

  • A small pair of gold-rimmed half-spectacles, a neat hair ribbon, and a bicorne of blue felt completed the picture.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • In the painting, the nobleman is depicted proudly wearing a lavish bicorne adorned with feathers.

Synonyms

bicorn
vsbicorne
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A hat with the brim turned up to make two points worn in the 1700s and early 1800s

is the same term for that hat but written with an alternative spelling

Surface Forms

bicorne singular
bicornes plural

Morphology

bicorne = bicorn (semi-transparent) = bi + corne

The immediate base is a borrowing (bicorn/bicorne) not formed from productive English roots (the element 'corne' is not a familiar English morpheme), so learners cannot reliably derive the sense from the parts.

Etymology

Bicorne comes from the parts bi- 'two' and corn 'horn'. So it means 'two-horned' and refers to a hat with two turned-up sides like two horns, which you can remember by thinking of a bicycle (two wheels) or a unicorn (one horn).