A latte—short for latte macchiato, i.e. 'stained milk'—is what my grandmother used to give me for breakfast when I was a tot. A glass of scolded milk "stained" with a short slug of coffee, not too much or I would get hyper.
A cappuccino, on the other hand, was brown coffee "cowled" with a white hood of cream, like a capuchin friar. That was a more formal, more public selection. The kind of thing elderly gentlemen and dignified older ladies would order in those formal, wainscotted old cafés in Venice or Milan, where everybody spoke in whispers and ladies would daintily sip espresso demi-tasse with their hats and gloves on.
How did these stately Italian customs from the era of spats and net-veils become icons of America's urban youth culture??? Mysteries upon mysteries. The longer I live, the less I understand anything.