toque

See also: toqué

English

Etymology 1

From Middle French toque (“toque”), from Latin toca (“woman's headdress”), possibly from Arabic طَاق‎ (ṭāq, “layer, stratum”), from Old Persian [script needed] (taq, “veil, shawl”).

Alternative forms

• touque

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /təʊk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /toʊk/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /tuːk/

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

Noun

toque (plural toques)

1. A type of hat with no brim.
   • 1903—Janet Elder Rait, Alison Howard, Archibald Constable & Co., page 273,

     "Because Esmé said she was going out this afternoon to choose a new toque, and she hoped I should like it, and I’m not quite sure what it is, or where she'll wear it. Do you mind explaining?"

     "Not at all. A toque is that which if it had strings would be a bonnet, and if it had brim, would be a hat. It is worn on the head."

     "Thanks, now I know where I am," said the vicar of St. Machars, with a sigh of relief.

   • 1932—Vyvyan Holland, translator, The Strange River by Julien Green, Harper & Brothers, page 180,

     She drank a glass of wine mixed with water, took off her felt toque and her shoes, and slid beneath the red eiderdown.

   • 1957—Samuel Beckett, "Endgame",

     In a dressing-gown, a stiff toque on his head, a large blood-stained handkerchief over his face, a whistle hanging from his neck, a rug over his knees, thick socks on his feet, Hamm seems to be asleep.

2. (specifically) A tall white hat with no brim of the sort worn by chefs
   • 1999—Michael Ruhlman, The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, Owl Books, →ISBN, page 154,

     Chef Felder was in her early forties, slender, with short wavy brown hair, almost all of which could be contained within her toque.

   • 2000—Jerrilyn Farmer, Killer Wedding, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 103,

     When I came to the back of a man's head, wearing a toque, I knew I'd spotted my quarry.

     "Chef Reynoso?"

   • 2004—Laura Levine, Killer Blonde, Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 114,

     Minutes later, a red-faced man in a chef's toque approached our table.

3. (by extension, informal) A chef.
   • 2007—October, Nicole Berrie, "Green Eggs and Sam", in Elle, page 360,

     Sam Mason first grabbed the spotlight as the pastry chef ... for being the most rock 'n' roll toque in town.

4. A variety of bonnet monkey; toque macaque, Macaca sinica.
5. (historical) An African nominal money of account, equal to 40 cowries.

Translations

rimless hat

• Dutch: toque f, m
• French: toque (fr) f

• Russian: ток (ru) m (tok)
• Swedish: mössa (sv) c

tall white hat worn by chefs

• Finnish: kokinhattu
• French: toque (fr) f

• Russian: колпа́к (ru) m (kolpák), поварско́й колпа́к m (povarskój kolpák)
• Swedish: kockmössa (sv) c

chef — see chef

Macaca sinica

• Finnish: lakkimakaki

• French: toque (fr) m

Etymology 2

1871. Assimilated from Canadian French tuque. Likely to be an hypercorrection from the time that toque was already in the dictionaries when they didn't yet list tuque as a kind of hat. French word tuque for hat is itself not strictly a deformation of French toque : it is also related to other meanings of tuque and to its former name bonnet à la turque (lit. turkish-style bunnet/cap).

Alternative forms

• tuque (Canada)

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /tuːk/, /tjuːk/

Noun

toque (plural toques)

1. (Canada) A knitted hat, usually conical but of varying shape, often woollen, and sometimes topped by a pom-pom or tassel.
   • 1998, Douglas Coupland, Girlfriend in a Coma, ch 1:

     Such is the demented nature of the universe that I was too weak to properly respond to my being hit on by carloads of Betties and Veronicas—all except for the cheeky Cheryl Anderson who gave me ‘manual release’ the day I lost my eye-brows, followed by a flood of tears and the snapping of Polaroids in which I wear a knit toque. Gush gush.

Synonyms

• beanie
• knit cap
• stocking cap
• watch cap

Translations

knitted hat — see beanie

See also

• winter hat
• winter toque
• wool hat

References

• “toque” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• “tuque” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• “toque” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “tuque” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “toque” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
• “tuque” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.

Etymology 3

From Spanish toque.

Noun

toque (countable and uncountable, plural toques)

1. (music) A rhythm used in Latin music, especially Cuban religious rituals.
2. (music) The guitar part of flamenco music.

Anagrams

• quote

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Asturian

Verb

toque

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of tocar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of tocar

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French

Etymology

From Middle French toque (“toque”), from Spanish toca (“woman's headdress”), possibly from Arabic طَاق‎ (ṭāq, “layer, stratum”), from Old Persian [script needed] (taq, “veil, shawl”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔk/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

toque f (plural toques)

1. toque, brimless hat
2. a pillowbox hat
3. (specifically) a type of round brimless hat traditionally worn by certain professions in France, such as university professors or judges.
4. toque, a chef's hat.
5. (by extension, informal) A chef.

Noun

toque m (plural toques)

1. toque, a variety of bonnet monkey; toque macaque, Macaca sinica.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• toque de jockey
• toque de magistrat

• toquet
• tuque

References

• Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition

Further reading

• “toque” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Galician

Verb

toque

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of tocar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of tocar

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Portuguese

Etymology

From tocar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔkə/
• Hyphenation: to‧que

Noun

toque m (plural toques)

1. touch, tap
2. ring (of a phone)
3. ringtone (of a mobile phone)
4. stroke
5. (by extension) detail, touch (distinguishing feature or characteristic)
6. a small quantity

Synonyms

• (touch): tato

Derived terms

• retoque
• toque de recolher

Verb

toque

1. First-person singular (eu) affirmative imperative of tocar
2. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of tocar
3. First-person singular (eu) negative imperative of tocar
4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of tocar
5. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of tocar
6. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você^?) present subjunctive of tocar

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtoke/

Noun

toque m (plural toques)

1. whiff
2. touch
3. stroke
4. toke

Derived terms

• toque de queda
• toque de diana

Related terms

• retoque
• tocar

Verb

toque

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of tocar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of tocar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of tocar.