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English
Etymology
From red + cap.
In sense of "porter", 1890s US; compare contemporary Japanese 赤帽 (akabou), Chinese 小紅帽／小红帽 (Xiǎo Hóng Mào). On Labor Day, 1890, John Williams,[1] an African-American railway porter, tied a red ribbon to his black uniform cap to stand out from the crowd at Grand Central Terminal. The strategy was so successful that it was soon adopted by others in the profession, leading to the synecdochic use of redcap as a term for all railway porters.[2]
Noun
redcap (plural redcaps)
- (British) A member of the Royal Military Police a unit in the British army.
- (US, rail transport) A porter in a US railway station.
- (British, archaic) A European goldfinch, Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis).
- (British, folklore) A type of evil goblin or imp.
- 1876: Porter & Coates (pub.), Reliques of Ancient English Poetry
- Lord Soulis he sat in Hermitage Castle,
- And beside him Old Redcap sly; —
- "Now, tell me, thou sprite, who are meikle of might,
- The death that I must die?"
1890, Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales:"What's a Brownie?" you say. Oh, it's a kind of a sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't know what's a Bogle or a Redcap!
2002, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, The Ill-Made Mute: The Bitterbynde:[…] the goblin had aroused the mercenary's ire. This seemed to bring out a formidable and hitherto unrecognized talent in the taciturn young man.
"Why cam' ye by my door?" The redcap brandished his pikestaff menacingly.
Redcap - A malevolent goblin easily distinguishable by their namesake red cap, fiery red eyes, claws and iron boots. They often appear as little old men, but can run very fast despite the boots. They reside in castles and watchtowers along the English-Scottish border, but will move their residence to avoid detection. They have sharp eagle’s talons which they use for weapons, but can easily be repelled simply by reading holy verse.
- A breed of poultry.
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