By Isla Quinn
Say it out loud. Toook. It rhymes with duke, not with smoke. In most of Canada that is the first test, and it comes before anyone asks about fibre or fit.
The thing itself is simple. The Canadian Encyclopedia calls a tuque a warm knitted cap, traditionally made of wool and usually worn in winter. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a warm knitted usually pointed stocking cap”. The word is where the trouble starts.
Where the word came from
The Canadian Encyclopedia adds that similar words exist in Breton, Spanish and Italian but do not always mean knitted caps. The knit cap article lists other proposed origins, including a Breton word for hat, a Spanish verb meaning to touch, and a Languedoc word for summit. These are proposals, and we do not pick among them.
The spelling argument
The Canadian Encyclopedia puts the regional split this way. In Quebec, tuque is the spelling it prefers. In English Canada, toque is the older and still more common spelling, though many Canadians write touque.
What they call it elsewhere
The Canadian Encyclopedia says that in Newfoundland and Labrador many people prefer “stocking cap” or simply “hat”. Elsewhere, it says, Britain uses “balaclava”, the United States says “stocking cap”, and Australia says “beanie”.
Does it need a pom-pom?
This is the other argument. The Canadian Encyclopedia says a long tassel or pom-pom once distinguished the tuque, but most are now tailless. Neither source settles it, and we would not either.
Worn first on the toboggan hill
The Canadian Encyclopedia quotes a 1915 Oxford English Dictionary entry that called the tuque the former winter headdress of the Canadian “habitant”. By then, the entry said, the cap was mainly part of toboggan or snowshoe club costume. The encyclopedia says the word spread beyond winter sports only gradually.
Dates in order
- Around 1500 (Wikipedia, toque): the older French loan word in English, for a different hat.
- Around 1870 or 1871 (Wikipedia; Merriam-Webster): the Canadian knit-cap sense.
- Before 1822 (Canadian Encyclopedia): the Quebec municipality of La Tuque already carried the name, after a mountain described as resembling a tuque.
- 1915 (Canadian Encyclopedia, quoting the Oxford English Dictionary): the cap described as a former winter headdress, then mostly club costume.
- 2013 (Wikipedia): the CBC Edmonton spelling poll.
What kind of sources these are
A national encyclopedia, a major American dictionary, and two Wikipedia articles that anyone can edit. We read no archive and no maker’s site. Nothing here tells you which fibre is best, how a hat is knitted, or how to wash one, and we do not claim to.
Questions a buyer would ask
Is a wool cap a toque? The Canadian Encyclopedia says tuques are traditionally wool, and Wikipedia says knit caps are now often made of synthetic fibres. Our reading: a label that says “toque” is not a statement about fibre.
Which spelling should a label use? The sources say most Canadian publications use toque, and Quebec prefers tuque. Our reading: a seller using touque is following the poll, not the dictionary.
What we left out
Political uses of the hat in Quebec, which the encyclopedia and Wikipedia both mention and which deserve their own space. Hockey charity events of the early 2000s and film titles. Any named maker or knitter. Prices and care instructions.
Quick answers
How do you pronounce toque? According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, it rhymes with “duke” rather than “smoke”.
What is the difference between a toque and a tuque? The Canadian Encyclopedia says Quebec prefers tuque and English Canada more often writes toque.
What is a toque called in other countries? According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, “balaclava” in Britain, “stocking cap” in the United States, and “beanie” in Australia.
Related on this site: granville-island-vancouver-public-market-net-loft, sicard-snowblower-outremont-1927, stanfields-truro-wool-underwear-history
Roam first. Shop later.