"redcap" meaning in English

See redcap in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: redcaps [plural]
Etymology: From red + cap. In sense of "porter", 1890s US; compare contemporary Japanese 赤帽 (akabou), Chinese 小紅帽/小红帽 (Xiǎo Hóng Mào). On Labor Day, 1890, John Williams, an African-American railway porter, tied a red ribbon to his black uniform cap to stand out from the crowd at Grand Central Terminal. The strategy was so successful that it was soon adopted by others in the profession, leading to the synecdochic use of redcap as a term for all railway porters. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|red|cap}} red + cap, {{cog|ja|赤帽|tr=akabou}} Japanese 赤帽 (akabou), {{cog|zh|小紅帽|tr=Xiǎo Hóng Mào}} Chinese 小紅帽/小红帽 (Xiǎo Hóng Mào) Head templates: {{en-noun}} redcap (plural redcaps)
  1. (British) A member of the Royal Military Police a unit in the British army. Tags: British
    Sense id: en-redcap-en-noun-QsPw338b Categories (other): British English
  2. (US, rail transport) A porter in a US railway station. Tags: US Categories (topical): Rail transportation Translations (porter): носач (nosač) [masculine] (Bulgarian), 赤帽 (akabō) (alt: あかぼう) (Japanese)
    Sense id: en-redcap-en-noun-M1FQZhWs Categories (other): American English Topics: rail-transport, railways, transport Disambiguation of 'porter': 0 100 0 0 0
  3. (British, archaic) A European goldfinch, Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis). Tags: British, archaic Categories (lifeform): Chickens, True finches
    Sense id: en-redcap-en-noun-GuCgkwvj Disambiguation of Chickens: 5 9 44 5 38 Disambiguation of True finches: 6 13 72 5 5 Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Japanese translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 11 18 58 9 5 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 2 14 75 4 4 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 8 17 65 6 4 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 5 17 70 4 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 22 14 49 9 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 4 14 67 7 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 4 15 66 7 8
  4. (British, folklore) A type of evil goblin or imp. Tags: British Categories (topical): Folklore, Mythological creatures
    Sense id: en-redcap-en-noun-oqKO9L~z Disambiguation of Mythological creatures: 10 10 26 46 8 Categories (other): British English Topics: arts, folklore, history, human-sciences, literature, media, publishing, sciences
  5. A breed of poultry. Categories (lifeform): Chickens
    Sense id: en-redcap-en-noun-jWDHQV3Q Disambiguation of Chickens: 5 9 44 5 38
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: red cap, red-cap Derived forms: skycap

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "skycap"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "red",
        "3": "cap"
      },
      "expansion": "red + cap",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ja",
        "2": "赤帽",
        "tr": "akabou"
      },
      "expansion": "Japanese 赤帽 (akabou)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "zh",
        "2": "小紅帽",
        "tr": "Xiǎo Hóng Mào"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese 小紅帽/小红帽 (Xiǎo Hóng Mào)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From red + cap.\nIn sense of \"porter\", 1890s US; compare contemporary Japanese 赤帽 (akabou), Chinese 小紅帽/小红帽 (Xiǎo Hóng Mào). On Labor Day, 1890, John Williams, an African-American railway porter, tied a red ribbon to his black uniform cap to stand out from the crowd at Grand Central Terminal. The strategy was so successful that it was soon adopted by others in the profession, leading to the synecdochic use of redcap as a term for all railway porters.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "redcaps",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "redcap (plural redcaps)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A member of the Royal Military Police a unit in the British army."
      ],
      "id": "en-redcap-en-noun-QsPw338b",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British) A member of the Royal Military Police a unit in the British army."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Rail transportation",
          "orig": "en:Rail transportation",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A porter in a US railway station."
      ],
      "id": "en-redcap-en-noun-M1FQZhWs",
      "links": [
        [
          "rail transport",
          "rail transport"
        ],
        [
          "porter",
          "porter"
        ],
        [
          "railway",
          "railway"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, rail transport) A porter in a US railway station."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "rail-transport",
        "railways",
        "transport"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100 0 0 0",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "nosač",
          "sense": "porter",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "носач"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100 0 0 0",
          "alt": "あかぼう",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "akabō",
          "sense": "porter",
          "word": "赤帽"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 18 58 9 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 14 75 4 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 17 65 6 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 17 70 4 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 14 49 9 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 14 67 7 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 15 66 7 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 9 44 5 38",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Chickens",
          "orig": "en:Chickens",
          "parents": [
            "Fowls",
            "Poultry",
            "Birds",
            "Livestock",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Agriculture",
            "Animals",
            "Chordates",
            "Applied sciences",
            "Lifeforms",
            "Sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 13 72 5 5",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "True finches",
          "orig": "en:True finches",
          "parents": [
            "Perching birds",
            "Birds",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Chordates",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A European goldfinch, Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)."
      ],
      "id": "en-redcap-en-noun-GuCgkwvj",
      "links": [
        [
          "European goldfinch",
          "European goldfinch"
        ],
        [
          "Eurasian goldfinch",
          "Eurasian goldfinch"
        ],
        [
          "Carduelis carduelis",
          "Carduelis carduelis#Translingual"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, archaic) A European goldfinch, Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "archaic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Folklore",
          "orig": "en:Folklore",
          "parents": [
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 10 26 46 8",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Mythological creatures",
          "orig": "en:Mythological creatures",
          "parents": [
            "Fantasy",
            "Mythology",
            "Fiction",
            "Speculative fiction",
            "Culture",
            "Artistic works",
            "Genres",
            "Society",
            "Art",
            "Entertainment",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1876: Porter & Coates (pub.), Reliques of Ancient English Poetry\nLord Soulis he sat in Hermitage Castle,\nAnd beside him Old Redcap sly; —\n\"Now, tell me, thou sprite, who are meikle of might,\nThe death that I must die?\""
        },
        {
          "ref": "1890, Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales:",
          "text": "\"What's a Brownie?\" you say. Oh, it's a kind of a sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't know what's a Bogle or a Redcap!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, The Ill-Made Mute: The Bitterbynde:",
          "text": "[…] the goblin had aroused the mercenary's ire. This seemed to bring out a formidable and hitherto unrecognized talent in the taciturn young man.\n\"Why cam' ye by my door?\" The redcap brandished his pikestaff menacingly.\nRedcap - A malevolent goblin easily distinguishable by their namesake red cap, fiery red eyes, claws and iron boots. They often appear as little old men, but can run very fast despite the boots. They reside in castles and watchtowers along the English-Scottish border, but will move their residence to avoid detection. They have sharp eagle’s talons which they use for weapons, but can easily be repelled simply by reading holy verse. http://www.vf11.com/legendsofvalhal/legendsofvalhal-post-814.html",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter; 3), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:",
          "text": "After boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblinlike creatures that lurked where there had been bloodshed […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A type of evil goblin or imp."
      ],
      "id": "en-redcap-en-noun-oqKO9L~z",
      "links": [
        [
          "folklore",
          "folklore"
        ],
        [
          "goblin",
          "goblin"
        ],
        [
          "imp",
          "imp"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, folklore) A type of evil goblin or imp."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "arts",
        "folklore",
        "history",
        "human-sciences",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "5 9 44 5 38",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Chickens",
          "orig": "en:Chickens",
          "parents": [
            "Fowls",
            "Poultry",
            "Birds",
            "Livestock",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Agriculture",
            "Animals",
            "Chordates",
            "Applied sciences",
            "Lifeforms",
            "Sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A breed of poultry."
      ],
      "id": "en-redcap-en-noun-jWDHQV3Q",
      "links": [
        [
          "poultry",
          "poultry"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "red cap"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "red-cap"
    }
  ],
  "word": "redcap"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Requests for review of Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "en:Chickens",
    "en:Mythological creatures",
    "en:True finches"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "skycap"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "red",
        "3": "cap"
      },
      "expansion": "red + cap",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ja",
        "2": "赤帽",
        "tr": "akabou"
      },
      "expansion": "Japanese 赤帽 (akabou)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "zh",
        "2": "小紅帽",
        "tr": "Xiǎo Hóng Mào"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese 小紅帽/小红帽 (Xiǎo Hóng Mào)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From red + cap.\nIn sense of \"porter\", 1890s US; compare contemporary Japanese 赤帽 (akabou), Chinese 小紅帽/小红帽 (Xiǎo Hóng Mào). On Labor Day, 1890, John Williams, an African-American railway porter, tied a red ribbon to his black uniform cap to stand out from the crowd at Grand Central Terminal. The strategy was so successful that it was soon adopted by others in the profession, leading to the synecdochic use of redcap as a term for all railway porters.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "redcaps",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "redcap (plural redcaps)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A member of the Royal Military Police a unit in the British army."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British) A member of the Royal Military Police a unit in the British army."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "en:Rail transportation"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A porter in a US railway station."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rail transport",
          "rail transport"
        ],
        [
          "porter",
          "porter"
        ],
        [
          "railway",
          "railway"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, rail transport) A porter in a US railway station."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "rail-transport",
        "railways",
        "transport"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English terms with archaic senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A European goldfinch, Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "European goldfinch",
          "European goldfinch"
        ],
        [
          "Eurasian goldfinch",
          "Eurasian goldfinch"
        ],
        [
          "Carduelis carduelis",
          "Carduelis carduelis#Translingual"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, archaic) A European goldfinch, Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "archaic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Folklore"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1876: Porter & Coates (pub.), Reliques of Ancient English Poetry\nLord Soulis he sat in Hermitage Castle,\nAnd beside him Old Redcap sly; —\n\"Now, tell me, thou sprite, who are meikle of might,\nThe death that I must die?\""
        },
        {
          "ref": "1890, Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales:",
          "text": "\"What's a Brownie?\" you say. Oh, it's a kind of a sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't know what's a Bogle or a Redcap!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, The Ill-Made Mute: The Bitterbynde:",
          "text": "[…] the goblin had aroused the mercenary's ire. This seemed to bring out a formidable and hitherto unrecognized talent in the taciturn young man.\n\"Why cam' ye by my door?\" The redcap brandished his pikestaff menacingly.\nRedcap - A malevolent goblin easily distinguishable by their namesake red cap, fiery red eyes, claws and iron boots. They often appear as little old men, but can run very fast despite the boots. They reside in castles and watchtowers along the English-Scottish border, but will move their residence to avoid detection. They have sharp eagle’s talons which they use for weapons, but can easily be repelled simply by reading holy verse. http://www.vf11.com/legendsofvalhal/legendsofvalhal-post-814.html",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter; 3), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:",
          "text": "After boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblinlike creatures that lurked where there had been bloodshed […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A type of evil goblin or imp."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "folklore",
          "folklore"
        ],
        [
          "goblin",
          "goblin"
        ],
        [
          "imp",
          "imp"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, folklore) A type of evil goblin or imp."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "arts",
        "folklore",
        "history",
        "human-sciences",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A breed of poultry."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "poultry",
          "poultry"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "red cap"
    },
    {
      "word": "red-cap"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "nosač",
      "sense": "porter",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "носач"
    },
    {
      "alt": "あかぼう",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "akabō",
      "sense": "porter",
      "word": "赤帽"
    }
  ],
  "word": "redcap"
}

Download raw JSONL data for redcap meaning in English (5.0kB)

{
  "called_from": "translations/324",
  "msg": "possible sense number in translation item: Dutch: __IGNORE__ (1), __IGNORE__ (2)",
  "path": [
    "redcap"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "noun",
  "title": "redcap",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.