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Fine Dictionary

coif

kwɑf
WordNet
  1. (v) coif
    arrange attractively "dress my hair for the wedding"
  2. (v) coif
    cover with a coif
  3. (n) coif
    a skullcap worn by nuns under a veil or by soldiers under a hood of mail or formerly by British sergeants-at-law
  4. (n) coif
    the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair)
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
  1. Coif
    a coiffure.
  2. Coif
    A cap.
  3. Coif
    A close-fitting cap covering the sides of the head, like a small hood without a cape.
  4. Coif
    An official headdress, such as that worn by certain judges in England.
  5. Coif
    koif or kwäf To cover or dress with, or as with, a coif. "And coif me, where I'm bald, with flowers."
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. (n) coif
    A cap fitting close to the head, and conforming to its shape. The name is especially given to the following head-coverings worn during the middle ages: A cap resembling a modern night-cap, tied under the chin, and represented as worn by both sexes both in and out of doors, in the chase and other active occupations, as early as the twelfth century.
  2. (n) coif
    A cap like the calotte or skull-cap, usually of lawn, retained until the common introduction of the wig, especially as the head-dress of barristers.
  3. (n) coif
    A skull-cap of leather or of stuff, apparently wadded, made of many thicknesses, or provided with a thickened rim or edge (see bourrelet), worn under the camail to prevent the links of the chain-mail from wounding the head when struck, or to prevent the heavy steel headpiece from pressing too heavily upon the head.
  4. (n) coif
    Figuratively, the calling or rank of a barrister: as, a brother of the coif.
  5. (n) coif
    In armor: A cap of chain-mail or of bezanted or scale armor, usually distinct from the camail, and worn over it as an additional defense, or to cover the top of the head when the camail reached only about to the ears. Also called coif of mail, cap of mail, mail coif, and coiffe-de-mailles.
  6. (n) coif
    The camail itself.
  7. (n) coif
    A skull-cap of steel, worn over the camail, or perhaps in some cases worn under the camail, or mail coif. Also called coif of plate, coiffe-de-fer, cervelière, and secret.
  8. (n) coif
    A light cap of lace, worn by women at the present day.
  9. coif
    To cover or dress with or as with a coif.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (n) Coif
    koif a covering for the head, esp. the close-fitting cap of white lawn or silk originally worn by serjeants-at-law: a covering for the head worn by women
  2. (v.t) Coif
    to provide with a coif: to dress (the hair)
Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary OF. coife, F. coiffe, LL. cofea, cuphia, fr. OHG. kuppa, kuppha, miter, perh. fr. L. cupa, tub. See Cup (n.); but cf. also Cop Cuff the article of dress, Quoif (n.)

Usage in the news

AT the 1997 Vanity Fair Oscar party, perhaps the world's biggest annual pound-for-pound accumulation of celebrities, a tall, pale, perfectly coiffed man worked the edges of the room. nytimes.com

Newly Single Lauren Conrad Debuts Multi-Colored Coif . usmagazine.com

Newly Single Lauren Conrad Debuts Multi-Colored Coif. usmagazine.com

Coiffed periodic table (100 by 50 ?m). pubs.acs.org

Melinda Bouldin, who creates curly coifs at New York City's Dop Dop Salon, shared a few of her tried-and-true methods for creating curls the natural way. essence.com

All that plucking, primping, and coiffing can be exhausting. allure.com

Haircuts by Children asks you to trust your coif to kids with scissors. austinchronicle.com

Aside from a neatly combed coif of salt-and-pepper hair, not much – or so. latimes.com

If you want to understand who Mitt Romney really is, go beyond the position papers, stump speeches and preposterously presidential coif, and start with muffins . ashingtontimes.com

Caroline De Sousa and Zak Mascolo's coolly coiffed family affair. nymag.com

When one thinks of a beauty queen, specific images come to mind: glittery gowns, coiffed hair, poise and a sparkling crown. madisonmagazine.com

"Dry winter weather saps moisture from your mane, reducing its ability to shine and reflect light," explains Hollywood hair wizard Philip B Another blah-coif culprit. cosmopolitan.com

While Prince rocked the '70s coif, strangely neither Barbara Walters nor any of the other ladies ever asked him anything about it. kissdetroit.com

Interview with well-coiffed frontman Alex Turner. rollingstone.com

Today's styling products are designed to achieve and maintain the perfect coif, with plenty of good-for-the-hair ingredients. happi.com

Usage in literature

Her little white feet were bare, and her dark hair had escaped from its prim, white night coif. "Prisoners of Hope" by Mary Johnston

Mammy, coifed and kerchiefed, came down the stairs and through the house. "The Long Roll" by Mary Johnston

No nun's coif for that sunny, tangled mop of thine. "A Little Girl in Old Quebec" by Amanda Millie Douglas

A coif of rare, white lace covered her upturned hair. "The History of Sir Richard Calmady" by Lucas Malet

She wore a coif and a lace frilling in the fashion of the Regency. "The Gods are Athirst" by Anatole France

The Sussex name Quaile represents the Norman pronunciation of coif. "The Romance of Names" by Ernest Weekley

Here his efforts were rewarded at last by the appearance of a very old woman in a peaked hat and coif, apparently on the point of going out. "The Panchronicon" by Harold Steele Mackaye

Shorn of their original size, the coif and the coif-cap may still be seen in the wigs worn by sergeants at the present day. "A Book About Lawyers" by John Cordy Jeaffreson

Meanwhile she wore a fair white coif of pure Venetian lace. "The Rainbow" by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

A tap at the door, and an arch face, already shaded by the night-coif, peeps in. "Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXII No. 4, April 1848" by Various

Usage in poetry
How came it then one summer day,
Coiffing the daughter of the King,
He lengthened out the least delay
And loitered in his hairdressing?
“For cloth o’ gold and comely frieze,”
Winstanley said, and sighed,
“For velvet coif, or costly coat,
They fathoms deep may bide.
Here is the tale of Carrousel,
The barber of Meridian Street.
He cut, and coiffed, and shaved so well,
That all the world was at his feet.
A golden coif to bind my locks—
Sing away, Oh sing away!—
Or else two white-and-silver smocks.
But if he drift on the sea's rocks
What gifts will he bring away?
Carelessly coiffed, with sash half slipping down
Cravat mis-tied, and tassels left to stream,
I walked haphazard through the early town,
Teased with the memory of a charming dream.
On his noble battle-charger rode the great Campeador.
His coif was wrinkled. Name of God! but his great beard was fair.
His mail-hood on his shoulders lay. His sword in hand he bare.
And he looked upon his henchmen and saw them drawing nigh: