agal
noun
ə-ˈgäl
plural -s
: a cord usually of goat's hair that Arabs (as the Bedouins) wind around their heads to hold down the kerchieflike headdress
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from vernacular forms (with reduction or effacement of the first vowel and [g] for q) of Arabic ʽiqāl "headband"
First Known Use
1853, in the meaning defined above