kerchief

K5E1R1C3H4I1E1F4
US/ˈkɝ.t͡ʃɪf/US/ˈkɝ.t͡ʃif/UK/ˈkɜː.tʃɪf/UK/ˈkɜː.tʃiːf/

noun

A piece of cloth used to cover the head; a bandana.

OriginMiddle English keverchef ← Old French couvrechief →
UncommonScrabble 20
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounkerchief (plural kerchiefs or kerchieves)

plural kerchiefs · plural kerchieves

  1. datedA piece of cloth used to cover the head; a bandana.

    And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, / Had just settled down for a long winter's nap […]

    1823, Clement Clark Moore, The Night Before Christmas
    1 more example

    “Well, did you find some?” she asked from under the white kerchief, turning her handsome, gently smiling face to him.

    1901 [1878], chapter 5, in Constance Garnett, transl., Anna Karenina, translation of Анна Каренина (Anna Karenina) by Leo Tolstoy, part 6
verbkerchief (third-person singular simple present kerchiefs, present participle kerchiefing, simple past and past participle kerchiefed)

present singular third person kerchiefs · participle present kerchiefing · participle past kerchiefed · past kerchiefed

  1. datedtransitiveTo cover with a kerchief.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
kercher

Origin

  1. Old Frenchcouvrechief
  2. Middle Englishkeverchef
  3. Englishkerchief

From Middle English keverchef, coverchef et al., from Old French couvrechief, from couvrir (“to cover”) + chief (“head”). Compare curfew.

More words from Middle English, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic غِفَارَة, لِفَاع
  • غِفَارَة (ḡifāra)piece of cloth
  • لِفَاع (lifāʕ)piece of cloth
Bulgarian забрадка
  • забрадка (zabradka)piece of cloth
Catalan mocador
  • mocadorpiece of cloth
Chinese Mandarin 頭巾 /头巾
  • 頭巾 /头巾 (tóujīn)piece of cloth
Czech šátek
  • šátekpiece of cloth
Dutch hoofddoek, sluier
  • hoofddoekpiece of cloth
  • sluierpiece of cloth
Esperanto kaptuko
  • kaptukopiece of cloth
Finnish huivi
  • huivipiece of cloth
French foulard, fichu
  • foulardpiece of cloth
  • fichupiece of cloth
German Kopftuch
  • Kopftuchpiece of cloth
Hungarian kendő
  • kendőpiece of cloth
Irish bréidín, brat cinn
  • bréidínpiece of cloth
  • brat cinnpiece of cloth
  • cafarrpiece of cloth
  • ciarsúrpiece of cloth
Italian bandana, fascia
  • bandanapiece of cloth
  • fasciapiece of cloth
Japanese 頭巾
  • 頭巾 (zukin)piece of cloth
Korean 두건
  • 두건 (dugeon)piece of cloth
Norwegian tørkle
  • tørklepiece of cloth
Persian روسری, رویمال
  • روسری (rusari)piece of cloth
  • رویمال (ruymâl)piece of cloth
  • لچک (lačak)piece of cloth
Polish chustka
  • chustkapiece of cloth
Portuguese lenço, bandana
  • lençopiece of cloth
  • bandanapiece of cloth
Romanian batic, basma
  • baticpiece of cloth
  • basmapiece of cloth
  • năframăpiece of cloth
  • maramăpiece of cloth
Russian плато́к, плато́чек
  • плато́к (platók)piece of cloth
  • плато́чек (platóček)piece of cloth
  • косы́нка (kosýnka)piece of cloth
Spanish toca, toquilla
  • tocapiece of cloth
  • toquillapiece of cloth
Swedish sjalett, huvudduk
  • sjalettpiece of cloth
  • huvuddukpiece of cloth
Turkish başörtüsü
  • başörtüsüpiece of cloth
Ukrainian ху́стка
  • ху́стка (xústka)piece of cloth
Welsh penllïain
  • penllïainpiece of cloth
Yiddish טיכל, פֿאַטשיילע
  • טיכל (tikhl)piece of cloth
  • פֿאַטשיילע (fatsheyle)piece of cloth

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

heckfire
Cite this entry
APA

kerchief. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kerchief

MLA

“kerchief.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kerchief. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kerchief,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kerchief.

Source: kerchief on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.