cloche
UK[klɒʃ]US[kloʊʃ]
n
A close-fitting, bell-shaped hat, popular in the 1920s.
n
A glass or plastic cover used to protect outdoor plants from cold weather.
Etymology
The word 'cloche' entered English directly from French in the early 20th century. In French, 'cloche' means "bell," deriving from the Vulgar Latin clocca, a word of Celtic origin imitative of the sound a bell makes. The semantic connection is vividly literal: both the hat and the plant cover are named for their distinctive bell-like shape. Thus, the word's journey captures a sound-to-object evolution, from an onomatopoeic root for a ringing sound to a concrete noun for a bell, and finally to English as a term for bell-shaped fashion and gardening items.
Analysis
The word is a simplex loanword from French. It functions as a single, unanalyzable unit in modern English.
Examples
She completed her flapper costume with a stylish beaded cloche.
The gardener placed a cloche over the seedling to shield it from the late frost.
In the vintage photograph, all the women wore cloche hats tilted over their brows.