Kerchef

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A square piece of cloth worn over the head or around the neck, especially by women in earlier centuries
2. An archaic term for a head covering or neck cloth made of linen, silk or similar fabric
3. A cloth draped over the head or shoulders, once common as a piece of everyday or formal dress

Etymology: The word "kerchief" comes from Old French "cuevrechief," which combined "cuevre-" (to cover) with "chief" (head). Its literal sense was therefore "covers the head," and the head is still at the heart of the word, even though the object it names is now more often a neckerchief or a pocket square. English borrowed the word from Anglo-Norman French, and it had settled into Middle English by the time Chaucer and his contemporaries were writing. Over the following centuries, the cloth it named was worn by women of many ranks, and it was a common item in everyday dress. Its ordinary place in wardrobes is part of why the word spread so widely in English. Its French parent, "couvrechef," shows the same pattern, with the verb and noun joined into a single compound. The English word kept the older spelling pattern in its form, so the compound structure is easy to see once you break it apart.

Synonyms: kerchief, headscarf, bandanna