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sailor cap

sailor cap

2.8
A flat round cap with a small or no brim worn by people who work on ships
  • noun
  • /ˈseɪlər kæp/
translation icon : gorro de marinero
  • In the naval parade, the officers donned their crisp white uniforms and matching sailor caps.

Examples

  • The young boy proudly wore his sailor cap as he played dress-up with his friends.

  • She chose a sailor cap to complete her costume for the maritime-themed party.

  • He wore a sailor cap and was tattooed—a mermaid sitting on a rock combing her hair.

    Fiction book (1994)

Synonyms

hat
vssailor cap
1.0

A shaped covering for the head with a brim worn for warmth, protection, or style

is a specific flat uniform piece rather than broad fashion headwear
cap
vssailor cap
175 1.0

A soft hat that fits the head, often with a small brim

is flatter with a round top and has little or no brim
yachting cap
vssailor cap
7.2

A cap with a flat round top and a short visor worn on boats

is worn as part of a formal shipboard uniform rather than a leisure accessory

How Nautical

sailor cap
2.8
baseball cap
45 1.2
beanie
18 3.4

Surface Forms

sailor cap singular
sailor caps plural

Morphology

sailor + cap

The meaning is directly compositional: 'sailor' specifies who uses the item and 'cap' names the head noun, so the phrase denotes a cap worn by sailors. This is a common noun-noun compound pattern found across languages and would be predictable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Sailor cap comes from the simple hat worn by sailors on ships, because sailor names the people who wore it and cap means a small hat. As sailors used this flat, round hat as part of their 'uniform', people began to call any hat of that style a sailor cap.