Standard Lemma guide

headscarf

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈhɛdˌskɑɹf/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A more or less square piece of material worn over the head, typically by women, often to protect the hair, or for religious reasons.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • As far as only the Quran itself is concerned, wearing a headscarf is neither required nor prohibited.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: headsquare, tudung

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a kerchief worn over the head and tied under the chin

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: kerchief

Narrower terms: babushka, hijab, khimar

History

Etymology

Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap-? Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *káput Proto-Germanic *haubudą Old English hēafod Middle English heed English head English scarf English headscarf From head + scarf.

Across languages

Translations

113 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: plah — piece of material worn over the head
  • Albanian: pëlhurë — piece of material worn over the head
  • Jicarilla: báayoo — piece of material worn over the head
  • Arabic: حِجَاب (ḥijāb) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Arabic: خِمَار (ḵimār) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Arabic: حجاب (ḥijāb) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Arabic: شيلة (šēla) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Arabic: حجاب (ḥijāb) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Arabic: درة (darra) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Arabic: زيف (zīf) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Armenian: գլխաշոր (glxašor) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Armenian: թաշկինակ (tʻaškinak) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Azerbaijani: yaylıq — piece of material worn over the head
  • Azerbaijani: örpək — piece of material worn over the head
  • Azerbaijani: atqı — piece of material worn over the head
  • Azerbaijani: kəlağayı — piece of material worn over the head
  • Bashkir: яулыҡ (yawlıq) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Bashkir: шәл (şəl) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Belarusian: ху́стка (xústka) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Bengali: রূমাল (rumal) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Bulgarian: забра́дка (zabrádka) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Catalan: mocador de cap — piece of material worn over the head
  • Catalan: fulard — piece of material worn over the head
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頭巾 /头巾 (tóujīn) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Czech: šátek — piece of material worn over the head
  • Danish: tørklæde — piece of material worn over the head
  • Dutch: sjaal — piece of material worn over the head
  • Dutch: hoofddoek — piece of material worn over the head
  • Esperanto: kaptuko — piece of material worn over the head
  • Estonian: pearätt — piece of material worn over the head
  • Estonian: pearätik — piece of material worn over the head
  • Ewe: ɖuku — piece of material worn over the head
  • Faroese: turriklæði — piece of material worn over the head
  • Finnish: päähuivi — piece of material worn over the head
  • Finnish: pääliina — piece of material worn over the head
  • Finnish: huivi — piece of material worn over the head
  • French: foulard — piece of material worn over the head
  • Galician: pano da cabeza — piece of material worn over the head
  • Georgian: თავსაფარი (tavsapari) — piece of material worn over the head
  • German: Kopftuch — piece of material worn over the head
  • Greek: μαντήλα (mantíla) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Ancient Greek: κρήδεμνον (krḗdemnon) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Hebrew: שָׁבִיס (shavís) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Hindi: रुमाल (rumāl) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Hungarian: fejkendő — piece of material worn over the head
  • Hunsrik: Koppduch — piece of material worn over the head
  • Hutterisch: Tiechel — piece of material worn over the head
  • Irish: caifirín — piece of material worn over the head
  • Italian: foulard — piece of material worn over the head
  • Italian: copricapo — piece of material worn over the head
  • Japanese: ヘッドスカーフ (heddosukāfu) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Japanese: 頭巾 (zukin) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Japanese: ショール (shōru) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Kashubian: mamòta — piece of material worn over the head
  • Kazakh: жаулық (jaulyq) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Kazakh: орамал (oramal) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Khmer: ក្រមា (krɑmaa) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Korean: 두건 (dugeon) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Korean: 숄 (syol) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Central Kurdish: لەچک (leçk) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Kyrgyz: жоолук (jooluk) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Kyrgyz: оромол (oromol) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Latvian: galvas lakats — piece of material worn over the head
  • Latvian: lakats — piece of material worn over the head
  • Macedonian: шамија (šamija) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Macedonian: марама (marama) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Macedonian: забратка (zabratka) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Malay: tudung — piece of material worn over the head
  • Malayalam: തട്ടം (taṭṭaṁ) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Māori: pōtae kāmeta — piece of material worn over the head
  • Norwegian: hodetørkle — piece of material worn over the head
  • Norwegian: skaut — piece of material worn over the head
  • Persian: روسری (ru-sari) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Persian: لچک (lačak, laček) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Persian: حجاب (hejâb) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Polish: chusta — piece of material worn over the head
  • Polish: chustka — piece of material worn over the head
  • Polish: apaszka — piece of material worn over the head
  • Polish: zawój — piece of material worn over the head
  • Polish: rańtuch — piece of material worn over the head
  • Polish: podwika — piece of material worn over the head
  • Polish: podwijka — piece of material worn over the head
  • Portuguese: xaile — piece of material worn over the head
  • Portuguese: xale — piece of material worn over the head
  • Portuguese: lenço — piece of material worn over the head
  • Romanian: basma — piece of material worn over the head
  • Romanian: batic — piece of material worn over the head
  • Russian: плато́к (platók) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Russian: шаль (šalʹ) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Russian: косы́нка (kosýnka) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Scottish Gaelic: sgarfa-cinn — piece of material worn over the head
  • Serbo-Croatian: марама — piece of material worn over the head
  • Serbo-Croatian: marama — piece of material worn over the head
  • Slovak: šatka — piece of material worn over the head
  • Slovene: ruta — piece of material worn over the head
  • Spanish: pañueleta — piece of material worn over the head
  • Swahili: buibui — piece of material worn over the head
  • Swedish: huvudduk — piece of material worn over the head
  • Swedish: huckle — piece of material worn over the head
  • Tajik: рӯймол (rüymol) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Tajik: рӯмол (rümol) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Tatar: яулык (yawlıq) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Turkish: makrama — piece of material worn over the head
  • Turkish: eşarp — piece of material worn over the head
  • Turkish: başörtüsü — piece of material worn over the head
  • Ukrainian: ху́стка (xústka) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Urdu: رومال (rumāl) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Uzbek: roʻmol — piece of material worn over the head
  • Vietnamese: khăn trùm đầu — piece of material worn over the head
  • Welsh: sgarff — piece of material worn over the head
  • Welsh: pensgarff — piece of material worn over the head
  • Yiddish: טיכל (tikhl) — piece of material worn over the head
  • Yup'ik: pelatuuk — piece of material worn over the head