caprice: [17] Etymologically, caprice means ‘hedgehog-head’. It comes, via French caprice, from an Italian noun capriccio, formed from capo ‘head’ (from Latin caput) and riccio ‘hedgehog’ (from Latin ericeus, source of English urchin). Originally this meant ‘horror, shuddering’, the reference being to the hair of a terror-stricken person standing on end. The word’s present-day meaning ‘whim, fickleness’ seems to be partly due to association with Italian capra ‘goat’, from the animal’s frisky behaviour. => urchin
caprice (n.)
"sudden change of mind," 1660s, from French caprice "whim" (16c.), from Italian capriccio "whim," originally "a shivering," possibly from capro "goat," with reference to frisking, from Latin capreolus "wild goat" (see cab). But another theory connects the Italian word with capo "head" + riccio "curl, frizzled," literally "hedgehog" (from Latin ericius). The notion in this case would be of the hair standing on end in horror, hence the person shivering in fear.
