coif
pronunciation
How to pronounce coif in British English:
UK [kɔɪf]
How to pronounce coif in American English:
US [kɔɪf]
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- Noun:
- a skullcap worn by nuns under a veil or by soldiers under a hood of mail or formerly by British sergeants-at-law
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- Verb:
- cover with a coif
- arrange attractively
Word Origin
- coif (n.)
- late 13c., "close-fitting cap," from Old French coife "skull-cap, cap worn under a helmet, headgear" (12c., Modern French coiffe), from Late Latin coifa "a cap, hood" (source of Italian cuffia, Spanish cofia, escofia), of West Germanic origin (compare Old High German kupphia, Middle High German kupfe "cap").
- coif (v.)
- mid-15c., "to cover with a cap," from Middle French coiffer, from Old French coife (see coif (n.)); sense of "to arrange the hair" is attested in English from 1835. Related: Coifed; coifing.
Example
- 1. Applied to handkerchief , coif and stockings etc.