chevron

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From French chevron (“rafter, chevron”), the mark so called because it looks like rafters of a shallow roof, from Vulgar Latin *capriō, from Latin caper (“goat”), the likely connection between goats and rafters being the animal's angular hind legs.

Noun

chevron (plural chevrons)

1. A V-shaped pattern; used in architecture, and as an insignia of military or police rank, on the sleeve
2. (heraldry) A wide inverted V placed on a shield.
3. (chiefly UK) V-shaped markings on the surface of roads used to indicate minimum distances between vehicles.
   • 2009, Jamie Dunn, Truckie has a point, Sunshine Coast Daily Online, June 13, 2009.

     I told you that in fact they were called chevrons and it was an exercise by the transport department to teach us to stay two chevrons behind the car in front.

4. A guillemet, either of the punctuation marks “«” or “»”, used in several languages to indicate passages of speech. Similar to typical quotation marks used in the English language such as ““” and “””.

Verb

chevron (third-person singular simple present chevrons, present participle chevroning, simple past and past participle chevroned)

1. To form or be formed into chevrons
   • 1963, Lucien Victor Gewiss, "Process and Devices for Chevroning Pliable Sheet Material," US Patent 3397261 [1], page 14:

     ...the sheet to be chevroned locks itself into the furrow.

   • 1983, Allen Sillitoe, The Lost Flying Boat, ISBN 0246122366, page 118:

     Bull fixed the claw under a batten, strained like a sailor at the capstan, shirt off, arms chevroned by elaborate tattoos.

   • 2003, Felice Picano, A House on the Ocean, a House on the Bay, ISBN 1560234407, page 55:

     Earlier, in glaring winter daylight, I'd first noticed thin lines chevroning off the edge of each eye into the taut skin of his cheeks...