 Etymologically, the word originates from the Latin term, "capellanus" or "cappellanus", an office given to persons appointed to watch over the sacred cloak (cappa or capella) of St Martin of Tours.Its derivations were then found in many other European languages, including Yiddish, German, English, French, Polish, Norwegian, Croatian, and Hungarian.The French form derived from the old Norman French word "caplain", which gave the old French and medieval English word "chapelain", both meaning "charity priest", who was a priest who was endowed to sing Mass daily on behalf of the souls of the dead.