What is "calotte"

Calotte \Ca*lotte"\, Callot \Cal"lot\, n. [F. calotte, dim. of cale a sort of flat cap. Cf. Caul.] A close cap without visor or brim. Especially:

1. Such a cap, worn by English serjeants at law.

2. Such a cap, worn by the French cavalry under their helmets.

3. Such a cap, worn by the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.

   To assume the calotte, to become a priest.

n. 1 a skullcap worn by Roman Catholic priests 2 (context archaic English) The vertical central area of the crown of a bird's head. 3 (context architecture English) A round cavity or depression, in the form of a cup or cap, lathed and plastered; used to diminish the rise or elevation of a moderate chapel, alcove, etc. which would otherwise be too high for other pieces of the apartment. 4 (context anatomy English) The upper (superior) or lower (inferior) half of the globe of the eye.

Calotte may refer to:

• Calotte or zucchetto, a plain skull cap, specifically those worn by ecclesiastics
  • Calotte (Belgium), use among students at Belgian catholic universities as a student cap
• Calotte or space-filling model used in molecule modelling
• Calotte (architecture), a round cavity or depression in architecture,

The calotte (plural calottes, French from Provençal calota or Italian callotta), is a skullcap worn by students at catholic universities in Belgium. It originates from the skullcap worn by the Papal Zouave regiment around 1860. The calotte is cylindrical, made from velvet and astrakhan (pelt of newborn lamb). The color of the top is bordeau red for the universities of Brussels, Leuven, Louvain-la-Neuve and Namur, white for the university of Ghent and emerald for the university of Liège. In the front of the calotte are stripes representing the Belgian flag (black, yellow and red) and stripes representing the colors of the city or the university where the calotte has been received. At the back of the calotte, the faculty of the student is represented by a color and a symbol, with if needed an additional symbol to determine the speciality. Golden stars around the calotte represent the number of years that the student has studied successfully (if a year has to be retaken, a silver star will represent it). In addition to that, a number of official and personal pins will be added to the calotte, all representing waffles about its owner examples include:

• Official position in a student organisation (above the considered year's star)
• Hobbies and occupations (cardplayer, partyer...)
• Character (patriot, lazy...)