• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where does the word “shako” come from and What does shako mean in German?

Where does the word “shako” come from and What does shako mean in German?

May 5, 2020 by Karen Hill

This time our modern word “shako” shows evidence of Hungarian influence, even though the ultimate derivation seems to be from the Germans.

Starting with the German Zacke, “a peak,” the trail leads next to the Hungarian csakos suveg, “a peaked cap.”

This became abbreviated to csako, which was then taken into French as schako, and back into German as Tschako, still with the meaning of “a pointed cap.”

From the French, we took our word, dropping the c, but retaining the meaning.

This was applied to a form of military headgear, which did, then, come to a point.

Proving to be rather impractical as an item of battle dress, the point was flattened off, until now the military shako is a flat-topped hat best described as a truncated cone.

The one-time peak is retained only symbolically by affixing a pompon or a plume at the front of the hat.

Related Facts

  • How did the Mortarboard get its name and Where does the word “Mortarboard” come from?
  • The Best 20 Inventions Ever Invented
  • Where does the term “Cousin-German” come from and What does Cousin German mean?
  • Where does the word “staple” come from and What does staple mean in German?
  • Where does the term “German Silver” come from and What does German Silver mean?
  • How Did the German Shepherd Get its Name and Where Did the Breed Originate?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where does the word “subtle” originate and What does subtle mean in Latin?
Next Post: Where does the word “haversack” come from and What does haversack mean in German? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy