handkerchief

Etymology

It is formed from English hand + kerchief.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Kerchief, a cloth for covering the head, is from Anglo-Norman courchief, a variant of Old French couvrechief (“cover-head”), from couvrir (“to cover”) and chief (“head”),^[8][7][3] which is from Latin caput (“head”).^[3] The OED compares the earlier, rare handcoverchief (1480), from hand and coverchief, and the slightly later handkercher.^[2] Klein notes that the word is a contradiction, since a kerchief covers the head.^[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small square of cloth carried about the person and used to wipe the nose, hands or face: 1530, in Palsgrave's French–English dictionary.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

By the time the compound was made, kerchief had long meant any piece of cloth worn on the body;^[3] since about 1400 it could also mean one held in the hand to wipe the face.^[3] Handkerchief was also worn about the neck: Johnson (1755) defined it as "a piece of silk or linen used to wipe the face, or cover the neck".^[10][11] The by-form handkercher (about 1532) stayed in use until the 19th century,^[4][3] and English dialects had dozens of forms such as hankercher, hankitcher and ankercher.^[12] To drop or throw the handkerchief at someone, to show romantic interest, is recorded from 1697,^[2] and a game in which a handkerchief is dropped behind a player who must chase the dropper from 1754.^[2] The verb, to cover or wipe with a handkerchief, appeared in 1778.^[2] The short form hanky is first recorded in the 1890s,^[7] and in the 20th century the word came to cover paper tissues too.^[11] In British criminal slang, to give someone the handkerchief was to give them a signal.^[13]

Timeline

• 1480 – handcoverchief, in the same sense (rare).^[2]
• 1530 – a cloth carried to wipe the nose, hands or face.^[2][4][5]
• c. 1532 – the by-form handkercher.^[4]
• 1697 – to drop the handkerchief, to show romantic interest.^[2]
• 1753 – verb, to use a handkerchief (obsolete).^[2]
• 1754 – a game in which a handkerchief is dropped behind a player.^[2]
• 1778 – verb, to cover or wipe with a handkerchief.^[2]
• 1890s – the short form hanky.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small square of cloth, or of soft paper, carried about the person and used to wipe the nose, eyes or face: He dabbed his forehead with a damp handkerchief.^{[14][5][2][11]}
2. A kerchief or neckerchief worn on the head or about the neck.^[5][11]

Verb

1. (rare) To cover or wipe with a handkerchief.^[2]

Word family

• pocket-handkerchief
• drop the handkerchief

Related words

• hand
• kerchief
• neckerchief
• hanky
• chief
• cover
• coverchief

Usage notes

The plural is handkerchiefs, also handkerchieves.^[5][11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
13. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins