What does cloche mean?
A cloche is a bell-shaped covering with two well-established uses in English. In gardening, a cloche is a transparent cover — historically glass, now often plastic — placed over young plants to shield them from frost, wind, and pests while letting light through. In cuisine, a cloche is a dome, often silver, placed over a plate to keep food warm and add a touch of ceremony until it is revealed at the table. The word also denotes a distinctive close-fitting, bell-shaped woman's hat that defined 1920s fashion, sitting snugly over the head and framing the face. Borrowed directly from French, where 'cloche' means 'bell', the word retains a slightly elegant, Continental flavour in English. It appears most often in gardening guides, restaurant writing, and accounts of interwar style, making it a useful term wherever protection, presentation, or vintage glamour is described.
A bell-shaped cover, typically of glass or metal, used to protect plants or to keep food warm before serving.
"Seedlings thrive under a glass cloche through the cold snap."
Common in both British and American gardening vocabulary.
A close-fitting, bell-shaped woman's hat, fashionable especially during the 1920s.
"She paired her drop-waist dress with a black felt cloche."
Chiefly encountered in historical or vintage-fashion contexts.
Despite its French origin, the word takes a regular English plural pronounced identically apart from the final consonant.
"Rows of glass cloches glinted over the winter lettuce."
Every time you say 'clock', you're echoing the same ancient word for 'bell' that gave us cloche — French cooks just kept it closer to the source.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cloche
Cloche was borrowed into English in the late 19th century from French, where it means 'bell'. The French word descends from Vulgar Latin *clocca*, itself likely adapted from a Germanic source such as Frankish *klokka*. This same medieval Latin root gave English both 'clock' and 'cloak', making them distant relatives of cloche. The horticultural use spread from France's market gardens, while the hat took its name from its bell-like silhouette when it became fashionable in the early 1920s.
How cloche is actually used
In culinary contexts, 'cloche' carries an air of professional refinement and is common on fine-dining menus and among gardeners using cloches to shield seedlings. The hat sense is chiefly historical or vintage-fashion usage today. Both senses are somewhat formal or specialist; the plural 'cloches' follows the standard English pattern despite the word's French origin.
Easily confused with cloche
A cliché is an overused phrase or idea, whereas a cloche is a bell-shaped cover or hat; they differ in meaning entirely despite a superficially similar spelling.