Word of the Day

: December 3, 2007

escapade

noun ESS-kuh-payd

What It Means

: a usually adventurous action that runs counter to approved or conventional conduct

escapade in Context

His latest film is a screwball comedy depicting the calamitous escapades of two men who stow away on a cruise ship.

Did You Know?

When it was first used in English, "escapade" referred to an act of escaping or fleeing from confinement or restraint. The relationship between "escape" and "escapade" does not end there. Both words derive from the Vulgar Latin verb "excappare," meaning "to escape," a product of the Latin prefix "ex-" and the Late Latin noun "cappa," meaning "head covering or cloak." While "escape" took its route through Anglo-French and Middle English, however, "escapade" made its way into English by way of the Spanish "escapar" ("to escape") and the French "escapade."