Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See biretta.

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

  • noun A square cap worn by ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church. A cardinal's berretta is scarlet; that worn by other clerics is black, except that a bishop's is lined with green.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a stiff cap with ridges across the crown; worn by Roman Catholic clergy

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • In his homily before he bestowed each new cardinal with the red hat of their office, known as a berretta, Benedict told them their role was "not to be served, but to serve" and urged them to shun "the logic of power."

    Reuters: Top News 2010

  • He bore his highly respectable name upon the frontal band of his "berretta" alias "corôa," an open-worked affair, very like the old-fashioned jelly-bag night cap.

    Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 Richard Francis Burton 1855

  • The crown was the usual "berretta" (night-cap) of open work; the sceptre, a drum-major's staff; the robes, a "parochial" beadle's coat of scarlet cloth, edged with tinsel gold lace.

    Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 Richard Francis Burton 1855

  • That's when Aaron's father, John White, got involved, known as a quiet, dedicated man, he grabbed his handgun, a 32 caliber berretta, and waited for the teens.

    CNN Transcript Dec 22, 2007 2007

  • That's when Aaron's father, John White, got involved, known as a quiet, dedicated man, he grabbed his handgun, a 32 caliber berretta, and waited for the teens.

    CNN Transcript Dec 22, 2007 2007

  • Our visitors wore the official berretta, European shirts, that contrasted with coral necklaces and rings of zinc, brass, and copper, and handsome waistcoats, fronted by the well-tanned spoil of some “bush” animal, generally a wild cat, hanging like a Scotch sporran — this is and has long been the distinctive sign of a “gentleman.”

    Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo 2003

  • Lorenzo Ricci with his berretta on his head like one of the prefects of the lines, the three patrons of holy youth — saint

    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 2003

  • The berretta was formerly presented to him in St. Patrick's Cathedral, April 22, 1875.

    Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 1, January 1886 Various

  • Then there was much champagne and a concert and Cecil and I sat with the Captain, the Bishop, in his robes and berretta and the two inspectors and they were very charming to both of us.

    Adventures and Letters of Richard Harding Davis 1917

  • Then there was much champagne and a concert and Cecil and I sat with the Captain, the Bishop, in his robes and berretta and the two inspectors and they were very charming to both of us.

    Adventures and Letters of Richard Harding Davis Davis, Richard Harding, 1864-1916 1917

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