bonnet

UK: /ˈbɒnət/ US: /ˈbɑnɪt/ ,(bon′it)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bon•net /ˈbɑnɪt/   n. [countable]

1. Clothing a hat tying under the chin and framing the face.
2. British Terms Brit. an automobile hood:
   Pop open the bonnet and let's see what's wrong.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bon•net  (bon′it), n. 

1. Clothing a hat, usually tying under the chin and often framing the face, formerly much worn by women but now worn mostly by children.
2. Clothing, Informal Terms [Informal.] any hat worn by women.
3. Scottish Terms [Chiefly Scot.] a man's or boy's cap.
4. Clothing a bonnetlike headdress:
   an Indian war bonnet.
5. any of various hoods, covers, or protective devices.
6. a cowl, hood, or wind cap for a fireplace or chimney, to stabilize the draft.
7. the part of a valve casing through which the stem passes and that forms a guide and seal for the stem.
8. a chamber at the top of a hot-air furnace from which the leaders emerge.
9. British Terms [Chiefly Brit.] an automobile hood.
10. [Naut.] a supplementary piece of canvas laced to the foot of a fore-and-aft sail, esp. a jib, in light winds.

v.t. 

11. to put a bonnet on.

• Gmc, with a prefix corresponding to Middle High German obe- above
• Gmc *bund-, noun, nominal derivative of *bind- bind; compare bundle), with -et -et; compare Late Latin abonnis, obbonis ribbon forming part of a headdress
• Old Low Franconian *bunni something bound (
• Middle French; Old French bonet material from which hats are made, perh.
• late Middle English bonet 1375–1425

bon′net•less, adj. 
bon′net•like′, adj. 

Bon•net  (bô ne′), n. 

Georges  (zhôrzh), 1889–1973, French statesman.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bonnet / ˈbɒnɪt/ noun

1. any of various hats worn, esp formerly, by women and girls, usually framing the face and tied with ribbons under the chin
2. Also called: (in Scotland) bunnet / ˈbʌnɪt/ a soft cloth cap
3. formerly, a flat brimless cap worn by men
4. the hinged metal part of a motor vehicle body that provides access to the engine, or to the luggage space in a rear-engined vehicle
5. a cowl on a chimney
6. a piece of sail laced to the foot of a foresail to give it greater area in light winds
7. (in the US and Canada) a headdress of feathers worn by some indigenous American tribes, esp formerly as a sign of war

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French bonet, from Medieval Latin abonnis, of unknown origin