Etymology Dictionary

CAPRICE,  a whim, sudden leap of the mind.  (F.,—Ital.)   The word is now always spelt like the F. caprice, but we often find, in earlier writers, the Italian form.   Thus Shak. has capriccio, All's Well, ii. 3. 310; and Butler has the pl. capriches to rime with witches; Hudibras, pt. ii. c. 1. l. 18.—F. caprice, 'humour, caprichio, giddy thought;' Cot.—Ital. capriccio, a caprice, whim; whence the word was introduced into French in the 16th century (Brachet).   B. Derived by Diez from Ital. caprio, a goat, as if it were 'a frisk of a kid;' but this is not at all sure.   We find also Ital. caprezzo, a caprice, whim, freak; and it is remarkable that the orig. sense of Ital. capriccio seems to be 'a shivering fit.'   Hence the derivation may really be, as Wedgwood suggests, from Ital. capo, head, and rezzo, an ague-fit; cf. Ital. raccapriccio, horror, fright, raccapricciare, to terrify.   The difficult word rezzo occurs in Dante, Inf. xvii. 87; xxxii. 75; it also means 'a cool place,' and some connect it with orezza, a soft cool wind, Purg. xxiv. 150, a word founded on the Lat. aura, a breeze.   But see Errata. [※]

ERRATA

I have been misled here by observing the entry 'rezzo, ...an ague-fit (Dante)' in Meadows' Ital. Dict.   I suspect this was an old interpretation of the word in the passages to which I refer, but the right sense is 'shade.'   I have also, unintentionally, somewhat mistaken Wedgwood's meaning, being thus led off the track.   His suggestion is, to derive capriccio from capo, head, and riccio, curled, crisped, frizzled; the reference being to the bristling of the hair.   The words raccapriccio, horror, raccapricciare, to terrify, already cited, are much to the point; the prefix rac- (it may be noted) stands for re-ac- = re-ad, as in rac-cendere, to rekindle.   Capriccio would thus mean a bristling of the hair, a yearning emotion, a longing; Wedgwood cites from Altieri 'aver capriccio d'una cosa, to long for a thing, to have a fancy for it.   Esser capricciosamente innamorato d'una persona, to be passionately in love with one.'   Cf. s'accapriccia, shudders, Dante, Inf. 22. 31; arriciar, to stand on end (as hair), id. 23. 19.   β. Capo is from Lat. caput, head; riccio, bristling, is connected with riccio, a hedge-hog, from Lat. ericius, a hedgehog, lit. 'bristling animal;' see Urchin.