fichu

[ fish-oo; French fee-shy ]
See synonyms for fichu on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural fich·us [fish-ooz; French fee-shy]. /ˈfɪʃ uz; French fiˈʃü/.
  1. a woman's kerchief or shawl, generally triangular in shape, worn draped over the shoulders or around the neck with the ends drawn together on the breast.

Origin of fichu

1
1795–1805; <French: noun use of fichu, past participle of ficher to drive in, fix (informally, to throw, fling; hence, something put on hastily, loosely attached) <Vulgar Latin *fīgicāre, for Latin fīgere;cf. finca

Words Nearby fichu

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fichu in a sentence

  • Mrs. Lawrence laid her smoothing hand absently on a frill of lace fichu above a sternly disciplined bosom at half-heave. '

  • Adjusting his eyeglasses, they slipped from his nose and fell on the lace of her fichu.

    The Second Latchkey | Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson
  • She was all in black, except a floating muslin cape or fichu, making a beholder despise the finery of the Empire.

    Lazarre | Mary Hartwell Catherwood
  • The bride, who was a beautiful girl, wore a delaine dress of light and dark blue with a large white lace fichu.

  • The green chiffon crossed the shoulders in fichu effect, and the elbow-length sleeves were edged with bands of green.

    What Will People Say? | Rupert Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for fichu

fichu

/ (ˈfiːʃuː) /


noun
  1. a woman's shawl or scarf of some light material, worn esp in the 18th century

Origin of fichu

1
C19: from French: small shawl, from ficher to fix with a pin, from Latin fīgere to fasten, fix

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012