Meanings
plural blackcaps
- A small Old World warbler, Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), which is mainly grey with a black crown.First known use 17th c.
- UKUSdialectalobsoleteAny of various species of titmouse (of the family Paridae), including the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus, syn. Parus atricapillus).First known use 17th–19th c.
Other times the cat would run off to the hunting grounds, either the swamps or the Astroni, and when the hunters shot down an oriole or a great tit or a blackcap [translating capofuscolo], she collected them and presented them to the king with the same message.
2007, Giambattista Basile, translated by Nancy L. Canepa, Tale of Tales, Penguin, II.4 - CanadaUSThe blackcap raspberry (Rubus leucodermis).First known use 19th c.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounraspberry native to eastern North America having black thimble-shaped fruit
nounsmall black-headed European gull
nounchickadee having a dark crown
nounsmall brownish-grey warbler with a black crown
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinātricapillus“blackcap; black-haired”
- Englishblackcap
Calque of Latin ātricapillus (“blackcap; black-haired”), itself a calque of Ancient Greek μελαγκόρυφος (melankóruphos). By surface analysis, black + cap.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
blackcap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackcap
“blackcap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackcap. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blackcap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackcap.
Source: blackcap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.