Handkerchers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Pieces of cloth used for wiping the face or hands ; small square fabrics carried for personal hygiene or decorative purposes ; washable cloths used to blow the nose or dab away tears
2. Soft fabric squares intended for personal grooming such as wiping perspiration or tears ; portable cloths serving hygienic or ornamental roles ; small, washable pieces of material used to clean the face or hands
3. Compact textile items designed for cleaning or drying the face and hands ; decorative or practical cloths carried for personal care ; hand-held pieces of fabric utilized for blowing the nose or wiping moisture

Etymology: "Handkerchers" is a plural of "handkercher", an older variant of "handkerchief". The "handkercher" form is the one that shows the word's real building blocks: "hand" plus "kercher", a dialect-like shortening of "kerchief," which comes from the Old French "couvrechef," meaning "covers the head." The "chef" in that word is the same Latin-derived word for "head" that appears in "chief." Because "handkercher" was a spelling that spread in speech and print, it sometimes took the plural "handkerchers," which you will see far less often than "handkerchiefs." Speakers of English later reshaped the spelling to "handkerchief" so the ending looked more like the Old French source.