different between usher vs chaperon

English

Etymology

From Middle English ussher, uscher, usscher, from Anglo-Norman usser and Old French ussier, uissier (“porter, doorman”) (compare French huissier), from Vulgar Latin *usti?rius (“doorkeeper”), from Latin ?sti?rius, from ?stium (“door”). Akin to ?s (“mouth”). Probably a doublet of ostiary and huissier.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?sh?-?r, IPA^(key): /?????/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): [?a?.?(?)]
• (UK) IPA^(key): [???.?(?)]
• (US) IPA^(key): [???.?]
• Rhymes: -???(?)
• Hyphenation: ush?er

Noun

usher (plural ushers)

1. A person, in a church, cinema etc., who escorts people to their seats.
2. A male escort at a wedding.
3. A doorkeeper in a courtroom.
4. (obsolete) An assistant to a head teacher or schoolteacher; an assistant teacher.
   • 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, I.12:

     [H]e defrayed the expence of his entrance, and left him in the particular care and inspection of the usher, who […] though obliged by the scandalous administration of fortune to act in the character of an inferior teacher, had by his sole capacity and application, brought the school to that degree of reputation which it never could have obtained from the talents of his superior.

   • 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford 2008, p. 33:

     He began to learn Latin with Mr. Hawkins, usher, or under-master of Lichfield school, ‘a man (said he) very skilful in his little way.’

5. (dated, derogatory) Any schoolteacher.

Synonyms

• (male attendant at a wedding): groomsman, bridesman

Derived terms

• usherette
• usheress

Translations

Verb

usher (third-person singular simple present ushers, present participle ushering, simple past and past participle ushered)

1. To guide people to their seats.
   • 1836, Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz, "The curate. The old lady. The half-pay captain."

     Her entrance into church on Sunday is always the signal for a little bustle in the side aisle, occasioned by a general rise among the poor people, who bow and curtsey until the pew-opener has ushered the old lady into her accustomed seat, dropped a respectful curtsey, and shut the door;
2. To accompany or escort (someone).
   • 1898, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, page 509

     Margaret was astonished at the magnificence of the apartments into which she was ushered.

3. (figuratively) To precede; to act as a forerunner or herald.
   • 1912, Elizabeth Christine Cook, Literary Influences in Colonial Newspapers, 1704-1750, page 31

     Thus the Harvard poets and wits ushered The New England Courant out of existence.

4. (figuratively, transitive) to lead or guide somewhere

Derived terms

• usher in

Translations

Anagrams

• Huser, Rhues, Ruhes, Uhers, erhus, huers, shure

English

Alternative forms

• chaperone

Etymology

From French chaperon (“hood”), from Middle French, "head covering", from Old French chape

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /??æ.p???o?n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??æ.p?????n/

Noun

chaperon (plural chaperons)

1. An adult who accompanies or supervises one or more young, unmarried men or women during social occasions, usually with the specific intent of preventing some types of social or sexual interactions or illegal behavior.
2. A type of hood, often ornamental or official, with an attached cape and a tail, later worn as a hat with the face hole put over the top of the head instead.
   • August 30 1632, James Howell, "To the Right Honourable the Lord Mohun" in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ

     His head and face cover'd with a chaperon, out of which there are but two holes to look through.

3. A device placed on the foreheads of horses which draw the hearse in pompous funerals.

Translations

Verb

chaperon (third-person singular simple present chaperons, present participle chaperoning, simple past and past participle chaperoned)

1. to accompany, to escort
2. to mother

Translations

Anagrams

• Cape Horn, canephor, car phone, carphone

French

Etymology

From Old French, from chape (“head covering”) as the women who acted as chaperones wore head coverings. Equivalent to chape +? -eron. More at English cap, cape

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a.p???/

Noun

chaperon m (plural chaperons)

1. chaperon

Derived terms

• chaperonnage
• chaperonner
• chaperonnier
• Petit Chaperon rouge

Further reading

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

Old French

Etymology

From chape

Noun

chaperon m (oblique plural chaperons, nominative singular chaperons, nominative plural chaperon)

1. a hairstyle popular in the Middle Ages
2. headscarf for a woman
3. (falconry) hood for a bird of prey
4. type of sailing vessel