Chaperon

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For the biological meaning, see chaperone. For the historical hood or cap, see Chaperon (headgear).

A chaperon (or, almost always in the UK, chaperone) is an adult or typically older person who accompanies or supervises one or more young, unmarried men or women during social occasions usually with the specific intent of preventing inappropriate social or sexual interactions or illegal behavior (e.g., underage drinking, drug use). The chaperon is typically accountable to a third party (usually a parent of one of the accompanied young people).

The word derives figuratively from the French word chaperon meaning hood, and later a kind of hat. This is either from this sense or from falconry where the same word meant the hood placed over a hawk's head to stop it wanting to fly away.

Traditionally, a chaperon was an older married woman accompanying a woman when men would be present. Her presence was a guarantee of the virtue of the young woman in question. Female chaperons are also called duennas. Chaperons for young men were not commonly employed in Western society until the latter half of the 20th century.

Chaperons are often resisted and resented by the young people being supervised. The practice of one-on-one chaperons for social occasions has largely fallen out of favor in Western society, though the term is often applied to parents and teachers who supervise school dances.

The concept of a chaperon is also used in variation. For example, a chaperon might be an expert in a given activity who takes a group and accompanies them during outside activities to provide physical support, advice and emergency attention if necessary. Sometimes the term is applied to people who are essentially tour guides; in addition, the term is used as a verb in order to imply "guide" (eg. "I'll chaperon you around the city and show you all the best places.")

In drama, probably the best known example of a plot revolving around the need for, and lack of, a chaperone is Brandon Thomas's farce Charley's Aunt (1892).