capriole

noun

cap·​ri·​ole ˈka-prē-ˌōl 

1

: a playful leap : caper

2

: a vertical leap by a trained horse that is made with a backward kick of the hind legs at the height of the leap

capriole intransitive verb

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Italian; Middle French, borrowed from Italian capriola "leap made by a trained horse or a dancer, tumble," earlier in the sense "doe of the roe deer," feminine derivative of capreolo "roe deer," going back to Latin capreolus "roe deer, young of the roe deer," diminutive derivative of caprea "roe deer," derivative of caper (genitive caprī) "he-goat," going back to dialectal Indo-European *kapr-, whence also Old English hæfer "he-goat, buck," Old Icelandic hafr, Old Irish cáera "sheep," Welsh caeriwrch "roebuck" (compound with iwrch "roe deer"), Greek kápros "wild boar"

Note: Outcomes of the etymon *kapr- have a number of idiosyncrasies. The Celtic forms reflect a variant *kaper-, though Old Irish cáera, which departs markedly in meaning, may not belong here. Parallel to *kaper- is another set of nouns: Old Irish gabor "goat," Middle Welsh gauar "goat, nanny goat" (current Welsh gafr), Old Breton gabr (current Breton gaor), with cognates in Gaulish place and personal names. The internal *-br- may reflect *-pr-, though the initial *g against *k elsewhere is unexplained. The limited attestation of the Germanic etymon is peculiar. The Greek word, which dates to Homer, shows a marked departure in sense. The vowel *a and the spotty attestation suggest a substratal origin, perhaps with multiple independent episodes of borrowing. Mallory and Adams, however, aver that *kapro- "is a thematic derivative of *kapr̥- 'penis' seen, extended by -th, in Old Indic kápṛth- 'penis'" (Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London, 1997, p. 229) Compare goat.

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for capriole

• amphibole
• asystole
• buttonhole
• casserole
• centriole
• decontrol
• glycerol
• metropole
• monopole
• multipole
• omeprazole
• oriole