different between quirk vs caprice

English

Etymology

First attested in the 1540s. Of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kw??k/
• Rhymes: -??(r)k

Noun

quirk (plural quirks)

1. an idiosyncrasy; a slight glitch, mannerism; something unusual about the manner or style of something or someone

   The car steers cleanly, but the gearshift has a few quirks.

2. (architecture) An acute angle dividing a molding; a groove that runs lengthwise between the upper part of a moulding and a soffit
3. (archaic) A quibble, evasion, or subterfuge.

   • Had you no quirk / To avoid gullage, sir, by such a creature?

Derived terms

• quirkish
• quirkless
• quirks mode
• quirky

Translations

Verb

quirk (third-person singular simple present quirks, present participle quirking, simple past and past participle quirked)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To move with a wry jerk.

   He quirked an eyebrow.

   The corners of her mouth quirked.

2. (transitive, architecture) To furnish with a quirk or channel.
3. (intransitive, archaic) To use verbal tricks or quibbles
   • 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts:

     I have stung her and wrung her,
     The venom is working;—
     And if you had hung her
     With canting and quirking,
     She could not be deader than she will be soon

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French caprice, from Italian capriccio, from caporiccio (“fright, sudden start”): capo (“head”), from Latin caput + riccio (“curly”), from Latin ?ricius (“hedgehog”), or from Italian capro (“goat”). Doublet of capriccio.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /k??p?is/

Noun

caprice (plural caprices)

1. An impulsive, seemingly unmotivated action, change of mind, or notion; a whim.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)
2. A brief romance
   • Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

     The only difference between a caprice and a life-long passion is that a caprice lasts a little longer.

3. An unpredictable or sudden condition, change, or series of changes.
   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness, chapter 6:

     After that we cast off all allegiance to immediate, tangible, and time-touched things, and entered a fantastic world of hushed unreality in which the narrow, ribbon-like road rose and fell and curved with an almost sentient and purposeful caprice amidst the tenantless green peaks and half-deserted valleys

4. A disposition to be impulsive.
5. (music) A capriccio.

Related terms

• capricious

Translations

French

Etymology

From Italian capriccio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.p?is/

Noun

caprice m (plural caprices)

1. whim; wish

   Synonym: lubie
2. tantrum

Derived terms

• capricieux

Descendants

• ? Danish: kaprice
• ? English: caprice
• ? Romanian: capriciu

Further reading

• “caprice” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).