Chevron

How to spell chevron

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce chevron

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does chevron mean?

1. nounA V-shaped line, band, or repeating zigzag pattern.
2. nounA V-shaped stripe worn on a uniform sleeve to show rank or service.

Chevron in a sentence

• The knitted scarf had a bold chevron pattern in two colours.

• The sergeant earned a third chevron after years of service.

• The parquet floor was laid in a tight chevron that ran the length of the hall.

• Each chevron on his jacket marked another promotion.

Where does chevron come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from Old French chevron, which literally meant a rafter, one of the sloping beams that meet at the ridge of a roof. That word descends from the Vulgar Latin form caprione, built on the Latin caper, meaning 'goat', because a pair of rafters leaning together to form an inverted V was thought to resemble the bent hind legs of a goat. English borrowed the term in the 1300s as a heraldic word for a V-shaped band on a shield or coat of arms, and from there the meaning broadened to cover any bold V or zigzag shape. The same goat root survives in 'Capricorn', the goat sign of the zodiac, and in 'caper', the playful leap of a young goat. Because English kept the French spelling intact, the silent-looking 'ch' is pronounced 'sh', which is the main thing a writer has to remember.

How the word is built

• chevron (a single unanalysable root from French meaning rafter); no separable prefix or suffix in English