Handkerchief
nounA small square of cloth carried for wiping the nose, face, or hands.
How to spell handkerchief
12 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce handkerchief
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does handkerchief mean?
- nounA small square of cloth carried for wiping the nose, face, or hands.
Handkerchief in a sentence
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He kept a folded cotton handkerchief in his jacket pocket.
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She pressed a clean handkerchief to her eyes during the ceremony.
Where does handkerchief come from?
Language of origin: French
This word is a compound formed in English by joining 'hand' to the older word 'kerchief'. Kerchief itself came into Middle English from the Old French couvrechef, which literally meant 'cover the head', built from couvrir, meaning 'to cover', and chef, meaning 'head'. A kerchief was originally a cloth worn over the hair, and when people began carrying a smaller cloth in the hand for wiping the face or nose, they naturally called it a hand-kerchief. The French chef 'head' is the same root that gives us 'chief' and even 'chef' the cook, which explains the unexpected '-chief' spelling at the end. The real trap is the silent 'd' tucked between 'han' and 'kerchief', a letter that survives in writing even though most speakers say it as 'hankerchief'.
How the word is built
- hand (the hand)
- kerchief (cloth for the head, from Old French couvrechef: couvrir 'to cover'
- chef 'head')
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