Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A close-fitting knitted or crocheted cap having no brim or a brim that is folded up to create an extra layer of fabric for warmth.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A cap worn in Canada. See the quotation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A kind of warm cap winter wear, made from a knit bag with closed tapered ends by pushing one end within the other, thus making a conical cap of double thickness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Canada Alternative form of toque.
  • noun A watch cap.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Canadian French, alteration of French toque, toque (probably influenced by French dialectal tuque, hill (from the shape of the cap), or French tuque, shelter built in front of the poop of a ship); see toque.]

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Examples

  • Hey, Danger Girl - a tuque is a knitted hat, sometimes known as a 'beanie' in some parts of the world.

    Happy Canada Day! Jen 2009

  • You knew that a tuque was a hat, but a lot of foreigners don't which is why she said "That got me when I first heard it".

    first frost 2005

  • Wikipedia, Americans call it a number of things, but in Canada its universally called a tuque (/toque)

    first frost 2005

  • I'd say it's a French Canadian influence but really I'm not sure how everyone got to saying "tuque" ...

    first frost 2005

  • "tuque", or "toque", which in English-English suggests the lofty headgear worn by Queen Mary but is actually a little woolly hat.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2009

  • If it's cold outside (it will be), then the hat on your head is called a "tuque" (rhymes with

    The Morning News 2009

  • I had a big puffy downfilledcoat and some sort of hat or tuque but without the face part.

    Hated Winter: From Snow to Rainforest « Colleen Anderson 2010

  • Starting in goal for Montreal was former Capitals goalie Jose Theodore, who famously wore a Canadiens tuque over the top of his mask.

    Fond outdoor memories for Capitals' Jason Chimera Gene Wang 2010

  • I like to refer to the tuque as the “giant retarded woolen foreskin” of the hat world

    Regretsy – CALL FOR SKANTS! 2010

  • Imperat illi Deus; supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae coelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute in infernum detrude.

    An Interview With Thomas Storck 2009

Comments

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  • The existence of both toques and tuques suggests that there should also be taques, teques, and tiques. Symmetry demands it. In order to provide empirical evidence of these elusive forms of headgear, I propose that we build a two billion dollar superhattery, perhaps in Switzerland somewhere.

    April 17, 2008

  • I say go. Besides, I can add them to my list. :-)

    April 17, 2008

  • Don't forget tyques for our range of children's headwear.

    April 17, 2008

  • Yes! And mightn't there also be twques? (If so, perhaps they look like this.)

    April 17, 2008

  • And please don't forget tæque, tøque, and the IKEA hat hangers täque, tåque, and töque.

    April 17, 2008

  • Marvellous link ptero. Now those are stovepipe hats that look like real stovepipes.

    April 17, 2008

  • With frills, mind you.

    April 17, 2008

  • No no no! This is a beanie!

    ;-)

    April 17, 2008

  • Ah. I feel almost duty bound to raise the issue of whether a pom-pom is an essential feature of beanieosity.

    April 17, 2008

  • The pom-pom is not deemed essential, although it greatly adds character.

    My theory is that the pom-pom is more common in slightly less cold countries, but in countries where some kind of hooded jacket is required as well the pom-pom becomes much less common. My favourite beanie with its luxurious pom-pom became impossible to wear in an Ohio winter, for example. Ironically, I'd bought it in Canada.

    April 17, 2008

  • With pompom: bobble hat.

    Without: woolly hat.

    Easy!

    April 17, 2008

  • This is news. I had no idea there were opposing pom-pom camps.

    Now what about pom-pom vs. pom-pon? Or pompom vs. pompon? Or....

    April 18, 2008

  • Or powder pimpalimpimp?

    "The pom-pom is not deemed essential, although it greatly adds character." --frindley

    I strongly agree that a pom-pom greatly adds character to all occasions, everywhere. I wear one on my head at all times. (There's a Facebook group called Bears in Ill-Fitting Hats, many of which feature pom-poms.) Thank you for calling attention to this important fashion issue, frindley.

    As for whether it should be pom-pom, pom-pon, etc. It's definitely the former.

    April 18, 2008

  • Beanie = tuque? Not in my idiolect! To me, the word "beanie" means "hat with a propeller on top" (like this).

    Surely I'm not alone in this definition?

    April 18, 2008

  • In the Australian context I can't envisage a football supporter's beanie without a pom-pom. It's ... just ... wrong.

    April 18, 2008

  • Sarra's bobble hat makes me think of wobble-noggined Indians.

    April 18, 2008

  • I don't necessarily think of propeller beanies when I think of beanies. The reason why can be found here. I know that's not its real name, but that's what I think of when I hear "beanie."

    April 18, 2008

  • That's a biretta, of course. Not to be confused with berritta or Beretta. Or Baretta, for that matter.

    My head hurts.

    April 18, 2008

  • After checking Wikipedia, I've come to realize that my "hat with propeller" definition is probably due to my having learned the word from old Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.

    I stand duly corrected, and shall revise my usage forthwith. :)

    April 18, 2008

  • Well, you could still call it a "propeller beanie." That would clarify things. (Besides, I like to say "propeller beanie.")

    April 18, 2008

  • Oohh, yeah. Propeller beanie gives good mouthfeel.

    April 19, 2008