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caprice [caprice 词源字典]: caprice: [17] Etymologically, caprice means ‘hedgehog-head’. It comes, via French caprice, from an Italian noun capriccio, formed from capo ‘head’ (from Latin caput) and riccio ‘hedgehog’ (from Latin ericeus, source of English urchin). Originally this meant ‘horror, shuddering’, the reference being to the hair of a terror-stricken person standing on end. The word’s present-day meaning ‘whim, fickleness’ seems to be partly due to association with Italian capra ‘goat’, from the animal’s frisky behaviour.
=> urchin[caprice etymology, caprice origin, 英语词源]
capriccio (n.): 1690s as a term in music for a kind of free composition, from Italian capriccio "sudden start or motion" (see caprice). Earlier it meant "prank, trick" (1660s); "caprice" (c. 1600).
caprice (n.): "sudden change of mind," 1660s, from French caprice "whim" (16c.), from Italian capriccio "whim," originally "a shivering," possibly from capro "goat," with reference to frisking, from Latin capreolus "wild goat" (see cab). But another theory connects the Italian word with capo "head" + riccio "curl, frizzled," literally "hedgehog" (from Latin ericius). The notion in this case would be of the hair standing on end in horror, hence the person shivering in fear.
capricious (adj.): 1590s, from French capricieux "whimsical" (16c.), from Italian capriccioso, from capriccio (see caprice). Related: Capriciously; capriciousness.
Capricorn: zodiac sign, late Old English, from Latin Capricornus, literally "horned like a goat," from caper (genitive capri) "goat" (see cab) + cornu "horn," from PIE *ker- (1) "horn; head, uppermost part of the body" (see horn (n.)); a loan-translation of Greek Aigokheros, the name of the constellation. Extended 1894 to persons born under the sign.