mozzetta

Cardinal William Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore, in a red mozzetta.

Canon Stanislas Louis van Outryve d’Ydewalle (left); Wim Eijk, the Archbishop of Utrecht, the Netherlands (centre); and Canon Jan Tilleman (right). They are wearing mozzettas over rochets.

Borrowed from French mozzete (obsolete) (modern French mosette, mossette), and from its etymon Italian mozzetta; further etymology uncertain, possibly either:

• from Italian mozzo (“cut off; shortened”, adjective) (from Vulgar Latin *mutius, from Latin mutilus (“mutilated”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *mut- (“cut short”)); or
• from Late Latin almucia (“hood or cape with a hood worn by clergy”) (further etymology unknown)

+ Italian -etta (feminine form of -etto (diminutive suffix)).

The plural form mozzette is borrowed from Italian mozzette.

• Singular:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mə(ʊ)ˈzɛtə/, (following the Italian pronunciation) /mɔːtˈt͡sɛtə/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /moʊˈzɛtə/,

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɛtə
  • Hyphenation: moz‧zet‧ta
• Plural (mozzette):
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mə(ʊ)ˈzɛteɪ/, (following the Italian pronunciation) /mɔːtˈt͡sɛteɪ/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /moʊˈzɛteɪ/,

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

  • Hyphenation: moz‧zet‧te

mozzetta (plural mozzettas or mozzette)

1. (Roman Catholicism) A short cape covering the shoulders and buttoned in front, with a hood, which is worn by the pope, cardinals, bishops, and other senior clergy.

   Coordinate terms: cope, mantum, pellegrina

   • 2013 February 26, Gaia Pianigiani, Elisabetta Povoledo, “Benedict XVI to be known as emeritus in retirement”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-06-24:

     Benedict , the first pope to resign voluntarily in six centuries, will dress in a simple white cassock, forgoing the mozzetta, the elbow-length cape worn by some Catholic clergymen, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters at a news briefing.

   • 2025 April 21, Peter Stanford, “Pope Francis obituary: Leader of the Catholic church who pushed for social and economic justice, and an urgent response to the climate crisis”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-04-25:

     On that night of his election he stepped out on to the balcony overlooking Saint Peter's Square in simple white robes, refusing the fancy red mozzetta or cape that Benedict had sported when he had been announced as pope. When told to put on white trousers, he later remembered in his autobiography, he replied: "I don't want to be an ice-cream seller."

   • 2025 April 22, “In Pictures: Symbolism on Show as Pope Francis Lies in Open Coffin”, in BBC News‎, archived from the original on 2025-04-28:

     The most notable figure in the room is Irish-American Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is the Pope 's "camerlengo" or chamberlain and runs the Vatican until a new Pope is chosen. The cardinal – in red mozzetta and cassock – is shown blessing the body of the late Pope during the rite of the declaration of death.

• mosette (obsolete, rare)
• mozetta

• mozzetta on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “mozzetta, n.”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “mozzetta, n.”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Etymology uncertain, possibly either:

• from mozzo (“cut off; shortened”, adjective) (from Vulgar Latin *mutius, from Latin mutilus (“mutilated”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *mut- (“cut short”)); or
• from Late Latin almucia (“hood or cape with a hood worn by clergy”) (compare Latin amictus (“clothed, veiled”); further etymology unknown)

+ -etta (feminine form of -etto (diminutive suffix)). Doublet of almuzia.

• IPA^(key): /motˈt͡set.ta/
• Rhymes: -etta
• Hyphenation: moz‧zét‧ta

mozzetta f (plural mozzette)

1. mozzetta (short cape with a hood worn by senior clergy)

• mozzetta on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it
• mozzetta in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

• mazzetto