cagoule

If you are going for a walk in damp weather, someone may tell you to grab your cagoule! In modern everyday English, a cagoule (pronounced kah-gool) is a lightweight, usually hip-length, waterproof or water-resistant jacket with a hood. It is meant to be packed quickly, often from nylon, and worn as a compact layer over your clothes.

The term also appears in history classes for La Cagoule, a secretive far-right French group in the 1930s. That use is historical and far less common, but it is still useful to know when the word comes up in discussions of European political history.

The word cagoule began as a practical hooded covering, a simpler ancestor of modern rainwear made to protect the head, neck, and shoulders from wind and rain. In that older sense, it referred to a cowl-like garment worn for basic weather protection more than fashion.

In everyday English today, it describes a lightweight, hooded, often packable rain jacket. It is usually less bulky than a trench coat or anorak and is popular with hikers, cyclists, and commuters because it can be pulled on quickly, carried easily, and layered over other clothing in changing conditions.

Historically, the word also became tied to French politics. In the 1930s, La Cagoule (sometimes called the Cagoulards) was a covert far-right movement associated with anti-communist violence. That political sense is now niche and mostly appears in historical writing, rather than daily conversation.

In the 1960s, a British version of the garment was widely marketed by Peter Storm and similar outdoor brands, which helped make the term familiar to a broader public. Today, the dominant meaning is clearly the practical one: a quick, hooded weather layer, with the historical name only a memorable footnote.