handkerchief

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A small square piece of cloth used for wiping your nose, eyes, or face.

   He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead.

Simplified etymology

Handkerchief is a compound of hand and kerchief, recorded from the mid-16th century. Kerchief came through Old French cuevrechief, literally “cover-head,” from couvrir, “to cover,” and chief, “head”; after first denoting a cloth worn over the head, it supplied the generalized sense “cloth” in handkerchief.

From hand + kerchief.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary