a garland or wreath for the head; and frequently used to signify the circle of a crown.

CHAPLET is also another name for a rosary or string of beads used by the Roman Catholics to count the number of their prayers, which consist for the most part of ave-marias, paternosters, and credos. These beads are sometimes of coral, of wood, of diamonds, &c. The invention is ascribed to Peter the Hermit, who probably learnt it in the East, as the Orientals have a kind of chaplet called a chain, which they use in their prayers, rehearsing one of the perfections of God on each link or bead. The Turks use a similar kind of chaplet in reciting their prayers. Some, however, attribute the origin of the practice to St Dominic. The Roman Catholics have also a chaplet of our Saviour, consisting of thirty-three beads, symbolic of the years of his sojourn on earth.