or COWL, a sort of monkish habit worn by the Bernardines and Benedictines. The word is formed from ecculius, by running the first two syllables into one. There are two kinds of cowls; the one white, and very large, worn in ceremony, and when they assist at the office; the other black, worn on ordinary occasions in the streets, &c.

Mabillon maintains that in its origin the cowl was the same with the scapular. The author of the apology of the Emperor Henry IV. distinguishes two forms of cowls; the one, a gown reaching to the feet, having sleeves, and a capuchin, used in ceremonies; the other, a kind of hood to work in, called also a scapular, because it only covered the head and shoulders.