Coif

[koif] /kɔɪf/

noun
1.
a hood-shaped cap, usually of white cloth and with extended sides, worn beneath a veil, as by nuns.
2.
any of various hoodlike caps, varying through the centuries in shape and purpose, worn by men and women.
3.
a cap similar to a skullcap, formerly worn by sergeants at law.
4.
Armor. a covering for the head and neck, made of leather, padded cloth, or mail.
5.
British. the rank or position of a sergeant at law.
verb (used with object)
6.
to cover or dress with or as with a coif.
[kwahf, koif] /kwɑf, kɔɪf/
noun, verb (used with object)
1.
(defs 1, 3).
/kɔɪf/
noun
1.
a close-fitting cap worn under a veil, worn in the Middle Ages by many women but now only by nuns
2.
any similar cap, such as a leather cap worn under a chain-mail hood
3.
(formerly in England) the white cap worn by a serjeant at law
4.
a base for the elaborate women’s headdresses of the 16th century
5.
(kwɑːf) a less common word for coiffure (sense 1)
verb (transitive) coifs, coiffing, coiffed
6.
to cover with or as if with a coif
7.
(kwɑːf). to arrange (the hair)
noun

See queif
n.

late 13c., “close-fitting cap,” from Old French coife “skull-cap, cap worn under a helmet, headgear” (12c., Modern French coiffe), from Late Latin coifa “a cap, hood” (source of Italian cuffia, Spanish cofia, escofia), of West Germanic origin (cf. Old High German kupphia, Middle High German kupfe “cap”).
v.

mid-15c., “to cover with a cap,” from Middle French coiffer, from Old French coife (see coif (n.)); sense of “to arrange the hair” is attested in English from 1835. Related: Coifed; coifing.
language
Fortran with interactive graphic extensions for circuit design, on UNIVAC 1108.
[“An Interactive Software System for Computer-Aided Design: An Application to Circuit Projects”, CACM 9(13), Sep 1970].
(1995-01-04)