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attended the masquerade ball in the caparison of an Indian maharaja
horses dressed in Old-West caparison for the parade
Caparison first embellished English in the 1500s, when we borrowed it from the Middle French caparaçon. Early caparisons were likely used to display the heraldic colors of a horseman, and in some cases may also have functioned as protective covering for the horse. In British India, it was elephants, not horses, that were decked out with caparisons-and to this day both animals can still be seen in such attire during parades and circuses. It did not take long for caparison to come to refer to the ornate clothing worn by a man or woman. Caparison also serves English as a verb, a use first recorded in Shakespeare when Richard III commanded, "Come, bustle, bustle; caparison my horse."
First Known Use: 1579
in the meaning defined at sense 1a
See Words from the same yearadornment, beautifier, decoration, doodad, embellisher, embellishment, frill, garnish, garniture, ornament, ornamentation, setoff, trim;
apparel, bells and whistles, blazonry, bric-a-brac, chichi, emblazonry, filigree, finery;
flounce, flourish, furbelow, ruffle;
enhancement, enrichment, improvement;
used to seeing him in a T-shirt and jeans, we were startled by the sight of strapping youth caparisoned for the prom in a tuxedo
the state's rolling hills are even more becoming when they are caparisoned in the glorious colors of autumn
1594
adorn, array, beautify, bedeck, bedizen, blazon, deck, decorate, do, do up, doll up, drape, dress, embellish, emblaze, emboss, enrich, fancify, fancy up, festoon, garnish, glitz (up), grace, gussy up, ornament, pretty (up), trim;
accessorize, dress up, trap, trick (out);
brighten, freshen, smarten, spruce (up);
braid, embroider, feather, figure, filigree, fillet, flounce, frill, fringe, furbelow, garland, hang, lace, ribbon, swag, wreathe;
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for caparison
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