pelerine

pel·er·ine
P3E1L1E1R1I1N1E1
UK/ˈpɛ.ləˌɹiːn/US/pɛ.ləˈɹin/

noun

A kind of short cape or covering for the shoulders, associated especially with medieval pilgrims (of any gender).

Scrabble 10

Meanings

nounpelerine (plural pelerines)

plural pelerines

  1. A kind of short cape or covering for the shoulders, associated especially with medieval pilgrims (of any gender).

    […] Around his shoulders, he wore a thick gray pelerine. This was the custom of the knights of the Kingdom of the Spears, the land of the beaches and the chalk cliffs with great castles[…]

    2021 November 16, Clark Gillian, The Enchanted Deer and the Dreams of the Fool, Brave New Books, →ISBN
    1 more example

    Beneath the pale light crouched an ancient white-haited man, wrapped against the rain in a threadbare maroon pelerine. “Alms, sire,” he croaked, his eyes wide and fearful, his face lean and hungry. He was so thin […]

    2004 09, Julie D'Arcy, Silverdawn, Mundania Press, →ISBN, page 17
  2. A woman's tippet or cape with long ends coming down in front.
    1 more example

    Pilgrims, male or female, wore gowns […] A hood was usually added, but even if that were omitted, the pilgrim wore a shoulder-cape, a custom so universal that this type of cape came to be called a "pelerine," a name still used in the nineteenth century to describe the short capes fashionable in women's dress.

    [1935, Lucy Barton, Historic Costume for the Stage, Baker's Plays, page 138

Origin

  1. Late Latinpelegrīnus
  2. Frenchpèlerine
  3. Englishpelerine

Borrowed from French pèlerine, feminine of pèlerin (“pilgrim”), from Late Latin pelegrīnus. First attested in 1744.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian пелери́на
  • пелери́на (pelerína)woman's tippet
Catalan esclavina
  • esclavinawoman's tippet
Czech pelerína
  • pelerínawoman's tippet
Dutch pelerine
  • pelerinewoman's tippet
French pèlerine
  • pèlerinewoman's tippet
German Pelerine
  • Pelerinewoman's tippet
Polish peleryna
  • pelerynawoman's tippet
Romanian pelerină
  • pelerinăwoman's tippet
Russian пелери́на
  • пелери́на (pelerína)woman's tippet

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pelerine

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

pelerine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pelerine

MLA

“pelerine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pelerine. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pelerine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pelerine.

Source: pelerine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.