coif
/kwɑf/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.09 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A hairdo.
Example Sentences
- "He decides to muscle in on the act, styling his hair after Kirk’s signature coif (“the stupidest haircut I’ve ever seen,” says one character), trolling college girls on social media and proclaiming himself a “master-debater”."
- "From point and saucy ermine down / To the plain coif and russet gown."
- "c. 1620, Francis Bacon, letter of advice to Sir George Villiers The judges, […] although they are not of the first magnitude, nor need be of the degree of the coif, yet are they considerable."
- "Circe’s this craft, the trim-coifed goddess."
- "But winter can also be judged by the prominence of another scourge, one that is especially irksome in a city that places a premium on being well-groomed and immaculately coiffed: hat hair."
Etymology
From Middle English coif, coife, coyf, coyfe, coyffe, from Old French coife, coiffe, from Late Latin cofia, from Proto-West Germanic *kuffju, related to Old High German kupphia, kupha, kupfe (“mug, hood, cap”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppijǭ (“cap, hat, bonnet, headpiece”), Proto-Germanic *kuppō (“vat, mug, cup”), from pre-Germanic *kubná-, from Proto-Indo-European *gup- (“round object, knoll”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch, vault”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap, headgear, helmet”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: coif, coife, cofia, *kuffju, *kuppijǭ, *kuppō