n.
A male chicken castrated when young to improve the quality of its flesh for food.
[Middle English capoun, from Old English capūn and from Old French capon, both from Latin cāpō, cāpōn-.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.