capri-, capr- +

1. A two-wheeled, one-horse carriage that has two seats and a folding top.
2. An automobile with a folding top; a convertible coupe.
3. Etymology: French from cabriole, "leap of a goat, caper"; from cabrioler, caprioler, "to leap like a goat, to caper"; from Italian capriolare, from Latin capreolus, diminutive formed from caper, "he goat", whence capra, "she-goat".

1. A double star in Auriga, the brightest star in the constellation, approximately 46 light-years from Earth.
2. Etymology: from Latin, diminutive of caper, "goat".

1. To leap or to skip around in a sprightly manner; to prance; to frisk; to gambol.
2. A playful leap or skip.
3. A prank or trick; a harebrained escapade.
4. A frivolous, carefree episode or activity.
5. Slang: a criminal or illegal act; such as, a burglary or robbery.
6. A spiny shrub, Capparis spinosa, of Mediterranean regions, having roundish leaves and solitary white flowers.

Its flower bud is pickled and used for garnish or seasoning; and as a pungent relish in various dishes and sauces.

1. A reference to, or pertaining to, goat.
2. Of or pertaining to capric acid or its derivatives.

A reference to fatty acids occurring in small quantities in butter, coconut oil, etc.; united with glycerin. They are colorless oils, or white crystalline solids, of an unpleasant odor like that of goats or sweat.

1. Sudden, unpredictable, or unexpected action, or change of mind; a whim.
2. A tendency to sudden impulsive decisions or changes of the mind.
3. A tendency to change one's mind without apparent or adequate motive; whimsicality; capriciousness

1. Subject to, led by, or indicative of caprice or whim; erratic: "She's such a capricious mother that I never know how she'll react when I tell I'm engaged."
2. Characterized by or subject to whim; impulsive and unpredictable.

To be capricious, as stated above, is to be governed by "whim" or "chance", "to be inconsistent" and "unpredictable".

Although we may enjoy a little unpredictability in life, now and then, "capricious" is not ordinarily used in a positive sense. A capricious wife (or husband) can make a nervous wreck of her/his mate.

The root of "capricious" is the noun caprice, which means "a whim or sudden change of mind". "Caprice" ultimately came from the Italian word capriccio, which also has the meaning of "whim" and at this point hedgehogs enter into the investigation of the etymology.

Hedgehogs are known for their spiky, spiny coats. The Italian capriccio is a combination of capo, "head" and riccio, "hedgehog", and its original meaning was "hedgehog head", a description of someone so frightened or astonished that the hair on his, or her, head "stood on end".

The transformation of the meaning of capriccio from "fright" to "whim" or "sudden impulse" seems to have involved another group of animals; namely, goats.

While the Italian word capra, "goat", is not directly related to capriccio, the similarity of the words and the skittish, flighty behavior of goats apparently gradually pushed capriccio away from "fright" and towards "whim". By the time "caprice" entered English in 1667, it meant simply "whim, erratic", or "notion".

1. In astrology, the tenth sign of the zodiac, represented by a goat with a fish's tail and extending from December 22 to January 19.

Capricorn is classified as an earth sign, and its ruling planet is Saturn.

2. In astronomy, a faint zodiacal constellation in the equatorial region of the southern hemisphere, lying between Aquarius and Sagittarius.

A goat.

1. The technique in which flowering branches of the wild fig caprifig are hung in orchards of cultivated fig trees to provide pollen for pollination and hence fruit development.
2. The artificial pollination of figs by means of the sting of insects; such as, by chalcid wasps.
3. Etymology: from Latin caprificatio, "ripening of figs" (by the stinging of gall-insects); from caprificatus, past participle of caprificare, "to ripen figs", from caprificus, "wild fig"; literally, "goat fig", from caper, "goat" and ficus, "fig".

1. Belonging to the Caprifoliaceae, the honeysuckle family of plants.
2. Relating to, or belonging to the Caprifoliaceae, a family of north temperate, and boreal regions, shrubs or small trees including honeysuckle, elderberry, and guelder-rose.
3. Etymology: from New Latin caprifoliaceae, from caprifolium type genus, from Medieval Latin: honeysuckle, from Latin caper, "goat" + folium, "leaf".

1. Like a goat or of the goat kind.
2. Etymology: from Latin caprigenus; caper, "goat" + gegnere "to produce".

1. Egophony, or increased resonance of voice sounds, with a high-pitched nasal or bleating quality, heard especially over lung tissue which is compressed or consolidated by pleural effusion.
2. Also known as: bronchoegophony, egobronchophony, tragophonia, tragophony, and voix de Polichinelle (French, Punch's voice).

1. Similar to goats.
2. Of or pertaining to, or derived from, a goat; goat-like.

1. In dressage, a vertical leap in which all four of the horse's feet leave the ground and then its hind legs are kicked out.
2. A playful leap or jump performed in ballet.
3. Etymology: from Late 16th century via French, from Latin capreolus, "little goat"; from Latin caper, "goat".

1. An upward leap made by a trained horse without going forward and with a backward kick of the hind legs at the height of the leap, and then lands again on the same spot.
2. A playful leap or jump; a caper.