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Origin and history of Capri

Capri

island in the Bay of Naples, a name of unknown origin: Latin capra "she-goat," Greek kapros "boar," Etruscan capra "burial place" all have been suggested. As a type of wine, 1877; as a type of pants, 1956 (said to have been designed c. 1948); so called perhaps because they were first popular in Capri, which was emerging as a European holiday destination about this time (compare Bermuda shorts). Related: capris "capri pants" (1966).

Entries linking to Capri

Capri pants

1956 (said to have been designed c. 1948), from Capri, Italian island; so called perhaps because they were first popular in Capri, which was emerging as a European holiday destination about this time (compare Bermuda shorts).

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    Trends of Capri

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    cab
    "a leap like that of a kid goat," from capriola "a kid, a fawn," from Latin capreolus "wild goat, roebuck," from caper, capri...
    prism
    1560s, in geometry, "a solid whose bases or ends are any similar, equal, and parallel plane polygons, and whose sides are parallelograms" (not always triangular), from Late Latin prisma, from Greek prisma "a geometrical prism, trilateral column," (Euclid), literally "something sa
    seal
    "design stamped on wax," especially an impressed figure attached to a document as evidence of authenticity, c. 1200, sel, sele, from Old French seel, seal "seal on a letter" (Modern French sceau), from Vulgar Latin *sigellum (source of Italian suggello, Spanish sello; also Old Fr
    alone
    "unaccompanied, solitary; without companions," c. 1300, a contraction of all ane, from Old English all ana "unaccompanied, all by oneself," literally "wholly oneself," from all "all, wholly" (see all) + an "one" (see one). It preserves the old pronunciation of one. Similar compou
    reparation
    late 14c., reparacioun, "repair, act of mending" (a sense now rare or obsolete), also "amends, compensation, recompense, satisfaction for injury, what is done to repair a wrong," from Old French reparacion and directly from Late Latin reparationem (nominative reparatio) "act of r
    respite
    mid-13c., "extension of time for an action, deliberation, etc., grace period; postponement of an action, judgment, etc.," from Old French respit "delay, respect" (Modern French répit), from Latin respectus "consideration, recourse, regard," literally "act of looking back (or ofte
    nuance
    "slight or delicate degree of difference in expression, feeling, opinion, etc.," 1781, from French nuance "slight difference, shade of color" (17c.), from nuer "to shade," from nue "cloud," from Gallo-Roman *nuba, from Latin nubes "a cloud, mist, vapor," from PIE *sneudh- "fog" (
    cognitive
    1580s, "pertaining to cognition," with -ive + Latin cognit-, past participle stem of cognoscere "to get to know, recognize," from assimilated form of com "together" (see co-) + gnoscere "to know" (from PIE root *gno- "to know"). Taken over by psychologists and sociologists after
    other
    Old English oþer "second, the second of two; additional, further" (adj.), also as a pronoun, "one of the two; a different person or thing from the one in view," from Proto-Germanic *anthera- (source also of Old Saxon athar, Old Frisian other, Old Norse annarr, Middle Dutch and Du
    python
    1580s, name of a fabled serpent, slain by Apollo near Delphi, from Latin Python, from Greek Pythōn "serpent slain by Apollo," probably related to Pythō, the old name of Delphi. Chaucer has it (late 14c.) as Phitoun. This might be related to pythein "to rot," or from PIE *dhubh-(o

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