capon
/ˈkeɪpən/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms capons caponing caponed
- noun A cockerel which has been gelded and fattened for the table.
- verb (transitive) To castrate; to make a capon of.
- proper noun A surname.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English capoun, from Old English capūn, from Old Northern French capon (Old French chapon), from Latin cāpō, cāpōnem (Vulgar Latin *cappō).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A castrated cock, esp. when fattened; a male chicken gelded to improve his flesh for the table. Shak.
- verb To castrate; to make a capon of.
Etymology [OE. capon, chapoun, AS. cap (cf. F. chapon), L. capo, fr. Gr. skopiti to casrate. CF. Comma.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “capon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details