kerchief
/ˈkəːtʃɪf
/noun
1A piece of fabric used to cover the head.My mom is extremely self-conscious about her hair loss and always wears a bandanna or kerchief to cover her head....
- From the back, hundreds of women looked like my mother, bent kneeling with bowed heads, kerchiefs or chapel veils covering their heads.
- Not all Muslim women wear a veil, but among those who do, styles vary wildly, from simple kerchiefs and elaborate head scarves to full face-and-body coverings.
1.1 literary A handkerchief.But his prayers to Saint Veronica, who is credited with giving Jesus a kerchief to wipe his brow on the road to Golgotha, apparently go unanswered....
- Sniffing, Hanna wiped at her face with her kerchief.
- I wiped the tears from my face with a kerchief he offered me.
Derivatives
kerchiefed
- They were defeated by kerchiefed mothers and grandmothers silently walking in a circle day after day displaying their grief and the General's crimes for all to see.
Origin
Middle English kerchef, from Old French cuevrechief, from couvrir 'to cover' + chief 'head'.
The early spelling was kerchef, from Old French cuevrechief, from couvrir ‘to cover’ and chief ‘head’. It was formerly used to describe a woman's head-dress, a type of cloth covering over the hair. The word was used meaning ‘cloth’ as the second element of handkerchief from the mid 16th century.