Where does “neckerchief” come from?
Neckerchief comes from Middle English nekkyrchefe, a compound of nekke (neck) and kerchefe (kerchief), ultimately denoting a cloth worn around the neck.
neckerchief (English): A scarf that is worn looped or tied around the...
Definitions
- A scarf that is worn looped or tied around the...
Ancestry of “neckerchief”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | kerchief | A piece of cloth used to cover the head; a... |
| 2 | Middle English | keverchef | — |
| 3 | Old French | couvrechief | — |
| 4 | Old French | chief | head; leader, chief; front |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | capum | head, chief; head |
| 6 | Latin | caput | head; headlike protuberance on an organ or body... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | kaput | head |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | káput | head |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kap- | to seize, hold |