Capri

How to spell capri

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce capri

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does capri mean?

1. nounA style of close-fitting trousers that end partway down the calf, short for capri pants.

Capri in a sentence

• She packed a pair of capri trousers for the warm holiday.

• The boutique displayed several capri styles in the summer window.

Where does capri come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word comes straight from Capri, the small island in the Bay of Naples off the coast of Italy. The ancient origin of the island's own name is debated: some trace it to the Greek 'kapros', meaning 'wild boar', while others connect it to the Latin 'capreae', meaning 'goats', both reflecting animals once linked to the place. The cropped, calf-length trousers called capris took their name from the island in the late 1940s, when European designers associated the relaxed style with fashionable seaside resort life there. The word entered English clothing vocabulary largely through the 1950s and 1960s, when capri trousers became an international fashion staple. Because the spelling simply preserves the Italian place name, there is no hidden suffix to puzzle over, only the single 'p' and the final 'i' to remember.

How the word is built

• capri (proper name of the Italian island, used attributively; the clothing sense is short for 'capri pants')