▪ I. kerchief, n.
(ˈkɜːtʃɪf)
Forms: α. 3–4 curchef, (5 -cheff, -chyfe), 5–6 courchef(e, (6 -chief, corecheffe), 6 curtchif. β. 4–7 kerchef, (5 -cheff(e, pl. -cheves, 6 -chefe, -cheife), 4–6 kerchif, (5 -chife, 6–7 -chiffe, 8 -tchiff), 5– kerchief, (6 pl. -chievis); also 5 keercheef, kyrchef(fe, 6 kar-, car-, c(h)arschaffe. γ. 5 kerchew(e, 6 -cheu, -chow, -cho, -chu, kirchowe, -tshaw. δ. kerchy. See also kerch, kercher.
[ME. curchef and kerchef, syncopated forms of coverchef and keverchef, respectively a. OF. couvrechief and cuevrechief, in AF. also courchief: see coverchief, and, for the vowel difference, cover v.1 In northern ME. coverchef, curchef and curch were typical, while keverchef, kerchef, kercher and kerch were (like kever) midland or southern. From kerchef came also the obs. local variants kirchef, karchef, while the pl. kerchevis app. gave rise to the forms ending in -ew, -o(w, -u, etc. The form kerchy is still used in some dialects.]
1. A cloth used to cover the head, formerly a woman's head-dress.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 28018 (Cott.) Yee leuedis..wit curchefs crisp and bendes bright. a 1400–50 Alexander 5249 A croune & a corecheffe clustert with gemmes. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 653 Hir courchefs were curious, Hir face gay and gracyous. 1535 Will in Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees) 359 j curtchif. 1552 J. Caius Sweatyng Sicknes 361 Chaucer's couercephe..written and pronounced comonly, Kerchief in y⊇ south, & courchief in the north. |
| β 13.. Cursor M. 28018 (Cott. Galba) With kerchifes crisp and bilietes bright. c 1440 York Myst. x. 288 Lay doune þis kyrcheffe on myn eghne. 1482 Act 22 Edw. IV, c. 1 They shall not suffer their wives to weare any reile called a kercheffe, whose price exceedeth twentie pence. 1584 Cogan Haven Health ccxli. (1636) 274 It is good also to weare a kerchiffe.. in the night on our heads. 1632 Deloney Thomas of Reading in Thoms E.E. Prose Rom. (1858) I. 151 His Oastesse was very diligent to warme a kerchiffe and put it about his head. 1720 Gay Poems (1745) I. 109 Her goodly countenance..Set off with kerchief starchd and pinners clean. 1877 Bryant Lit. People of Snow 99 A broad kerchief, which her Mother's hand Had closely drawn about her ruddy cheek. |
| γ c 1440 Generydes 4424 Vppe he lift here kerchewe furth with all. 1482 Croscombe Church-w. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 10 A ryng of sylver and a kerchew. 1505 Rep. Ambass. touching the Queen of Naples, Clothed in black cloth, and, also in black kerchoes. 1535 Coverdale Ezek. xvi. 11, I clothed the with kerchues. c 1540 in Laneham's Let. (1871) p. cxxix. note, Reyment off kercheus one your hed. |
| δ c 1450 Cov. Myst. xxxii. (Shaks. Soc.) 318 Sche [Veronyca] whypyth his face with her kerchy... I xal them kepe from alle mysese, That lokyn on thi kerchy. |
† b. = amice1 2.
Obs. rare.
| 1552–3 Inv. Ch. Goods Staffs. in Ann. Lichfield IV. 80 One albe & karcheffe to the same..one vestement of whyte sateyn with albe & karcheffe to the same. |
† c. A woman who wears a kerchief.
nonce-use.
| 1700 Dryden Fables, Wife's T. 245 The proudest kerchief of the court shall rest Well satisfied of what they love the best [cf. Chaucer Wife's T. 162]. |
2. A covering for the breast, neck, or shoulders; a breast-kerchief or neckerchief.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 954 Kerchofes..wyth mony cler perlez Hir brest & hir bryȝt þrote bare displayed. c 1460 Russell Bk. Nurture 900 On his shuldur about his nek a kercheff þere must lye. 1552 Huloet, Kerchiefe for the brest, pectoralis fascia. 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 9 [If] Mrs. Oldmixon pins her kerchief a hair's-breadth awry. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. vii. 115 Get me a kerchief from her breast. |
3. A handkerchief.
| 1815 Southey Roderick xxii. 136, I ween That a thin kerchief will dry all the tears. 1821 Byron Two Foscari I. i. 103 Waving kerchiefs, and applauding hands. 1847 Whewell tr. Hermann und Dorothea in Eng. Hexam. Transl. 66 Each one wipes his brow with his kerchief. |
b. A cloth resembling a kerchief or handkerchief.
| 1877 J. D. Chambers Divine Worship 273 Besides these [chalice-veils] there ought to be two other white linen kerchiefs. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
kerchief cloth,
† kerchief launder,
† kerchief people,
kerchief-taking,
kerchief-turban.
| 1483 Churchw. Acc. St. Mary Hill Lond. (Nichols 1797) 97 For buryinge the Kerchiefe Launder's doghter. 1566 Eng. Ch. Furniture (Peacock 1866) 68 A kerchef clothe and a crosse clothe solde..by the said church wardens. 1636 Davenant Platonic Lovers v. Dram. Wks. 1872 II. 88 Many of these tiffany Young kerchief people. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 182 Some of the women wore a kerchief-turban of the gaudiest colours. 1843 Marryat M. Violet xxvii, Kerchief-taking is a most common joke in Texas. |
▪ II. ˈkerchief, v. [f. prec.] trans. To attire or cover with a kerchief; in
pa. pple. and ppl. a. kerchiefed (
ˈkɜːtʃɪft).
| 1600 Look About You xxiv. in Hazl. Dodsley VII. 454 I'll ne'er go more untruss'd, never be kerchief'd. 1632 Milton Penseroso 125 Morn..kercheft in a comely cloud. 1813 Scott Trierm. ii. Interl. i, Some phantom..With limb of lath and kerchief'd chin. 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 329 Be kerchieft o'er thy tresses, muffled up In crimson hood. |