C — Chancellor of the Exchequer to Charge (Part 2 of 3)

Chaos (kaos ). Confusion; that confused mass of elemental substances supposed to have existed before God reduced creation into order. The poet Hesiod is the first extant writer that speaks of it.

“Light, uncollected, through the chaos urged
Its infant way, nor order yet had drawn
His lovely train from out the dubious gloom.”
Thomson: Autumn, 732-4.

Chap A man, properly a merchant. A chap-man is a merchantman or tradesman. “If you want to buy, I'm your chap.” A good chap-man or chap became in time a good fellow. Hence, A good sort of chap, A clever chap, etc. (Anglo-Saxon, ceap-mann.)
    An awkward customer is an analogous phrase.

Chap-book (A ). A cheap little book containing tales, ballads, lives, etc., sold by chapmen.

Chapeau or Chapel de Roses. C'est un petit mariage, car quand on demande ce qu'un père donne à une fille, et qu'on veut répondre qu'il donne peu, on dit quil lui donne un chapeau de roses. Les roses sont consacrés à Venus, aux Grâces, et à l'Amour, (Les Origines de quelques Coutumes Anciennes, 1672.)
   N.B.- “Chapel” we now call a chaplet.

Chapeau-bras A soft hat which can be folded and carried under the arm (bras, French for arm). Strictly speaking, it should be a three-cornered hat.

Chapel is the chest containing relics, or the shrine thereof (Latin, capella; French, chape, a cope). The kings of France in war carried St. Martin's cope into the field, and kept it in a tent as a talisman. The place in which the cope was kept was called the chapelle, and the keeper thereof the chapelain.
   Chapel (A). Either a place subsidiary to the parish church, or a place of worship not connected with the State, as a Methodist Chapel, a Baptist Chapel, etc.

Chapel in printers' parlance, meant his workshop. In the early days of printing, presses were set up in the chapels attached to abbeys, as those of Caxton in Westminster Abbey. (See Monk, Friar , etc.)
   Chapel. The “caucus” of journeymen printers assembled to decide any point of common interest. The chairman is called the “father of the chapel.”
   To hold a chapel. To hold a printers' caucus.

Chapel-of-Ease A place of worship for the use of parishioners residing at a distance from the parish church.

Chaperon A lady's attendant and protector in public. So called from the Spanish hood worn by duennas. (English-French.) (See Tapisserie .)
   To chaperone. To accompany a young unmarried lady in loco parentis, when she appears in public or in society.

Chapter To the end of the chapter. From the beginning to the end of a proceeding. The allusion is to the custom of reading an entire chapter in the first and second lesson of the Church service. This is no longer a general rule in the Church of England.

Chapter and Verse To give chapter and verse is to give the exact authority of a statement, as the name of the author, the title of the book, the date thereof, the chapter referred to, and any other particular which might render the reference easily discoverable.

Chapter of Accidents (A ). Unforeseen events. To trust to the chapter of accidents is to trust that something unforeseen may turn up in your favour. The Roman laws were divided into books, and each book into chapters. The chapter of accidents is that under the head of accidents, and metaphorically, the sequence of unforeseen events.

Chapter of Possibilities (The ). A may-be in the course of events.

Character In character. In harmony with a person's actions, etc.
   Out of character. Not in harmony with a person's actions, writings, profession, age, or status in society.