— chaperonage /shap"euh roh'nij/ , n. — chaperonless , adj.
/shap"euh rohn'/ , n.
1. a person, usually a married or older woman, who, for propriety, accompanies a young unmarried woman in public or who attends a party of young unmarried men and women.
2. any adult present in order to maintain order or propriety at an activity of young people, as at a school dance.
3. a round headdress of stuffed cloth with wide cloth streamers that fall from the crown or are draped around it, worn in the 15th century.
v.t.
4. to attend or accompany as chaperon.
v.i.
5. to act as chaperon.
Also, chaperone .
[ 1350-1400; ME chape CAPE 1 + -eron n. suffix; figurative sense ]
Syn. 1, 4. escort.