turban
/ˈtəːb(ə)n
/noun
1A man’s head covering consisting of a long length of material wound around a cap or the head, worn especially by Sikhs and Muslims.It is difficult for us to see any reason why a Jew may not wear his yarmulke in court or a Sikh his turban....
- Gone are cotton loincloths and turbans in favor of microfiber stretch workout togs that wick perspiration away from the body.
- Shan men and women often wear large turbans wrapped from long lengths of cotton or bright terrycloth towels.
1.1A woman’s hat designed to resemble a turban.From then on, Chloe wore a green turban to hide her disfigurement....
- Further down was an African couple, the woman resplendent in her colourful turban, the man dignified in his impeccable suit.
- "Miss Hannah is here," she said, adjusting the old blue turban that she always wore on her head.
2 (also turban shell) A marine mollusc with a sculptured spiral shell and a distinctive operculum which is smooth on the inside and sculptured and typically patterned on the outside.
- Family Turbinidae, class Gastropoda: Turbo and other genera.
- In 1954, Yawata and 10 other fishermen in Kumi went to the islands on board a ship surrounded by five Japanese patrol boats, landed on the islands, and caught turban and ear shells.
Derivatives
turbaned
/ (also turbanned) adjective bearded and turbaned Sikhs...
- For barefoot boys as young as four in tatty shirts, to turbaned men in their sixties, football is a passion.
- There were Berber men with daggers and turbaned heads, and women with colourful headscarves.
- So many turbaned and veiled well wishers, all agreed she'd made a fine catch.
Origin
Mid 16th century: via French from Turkish tülbent, from Persian dulband. Compare with tulip.
The words turban and tulip are from the same source. Turkish people compared the flower of the tulip to the shape of the turban and gave the plant the same name, tūlbend, which they took from Persian dulband. The tulip made a spectacular impression, and cost a spectacular amount of money when it came from Turkey into western Europe in the 16th century. At first forms such as tulipan and tulban existed alongside turban as the name of the headdress, whereas the name of the flower always appeared in the -l- form, and eventually monopolized that spelling.