DCCa square piece of cloth, worn on the head or around the neck 方头巾;方围巾
Examples from the Corpus
kerchief• Philippa had taken her black kerchief off and twisted it around her fingers as she sat at Lee's feet.• Ahead of them, as was fitting, were the menfolk, more soberly-clad save for the brightkerchiefs round their necks.• Jozia blew her rednose into her kerchief.• Ancient women sat in darkened eighteenth- and nineteenth-century doorways, heads covered in kerchiefs or round-brimmed hats like up-ended puddingbasins.• It was all wrapped up in a knottedkerchief.• But since people sometimestied money into the knot of a large kerchief, it also means a hoard of money.• I imagined a sorceressinsideperforming her rites behind the window, with a red kerchief.
Originkerchief
(1200-1300)Old Frenchcuevrechief, from covrir“to cover” + chief“head”