snood

Definition

A band or ribbon for keeping the hair in place, including the hair-band formerly worn in Scotland and northern England by young unmarried women.

Etymology

From Middle English snod, from Old English snōd (“headdress, fillet, snood”), from Proto-West Germanic *snōdu, from Proto-Germanic *snōdō (“rope, string”), from Proto-Indo-European *snoh₁téh₂ (“yarn, thread”), from *sneh₁(i)- (“to twist, wind, weave, plait”). Cognate with Scots snuid (“snood”), Swedish snod, snodd (“twist, twine”). Compare also Old Saxon snōva (“necklace”), Old Norse snúa (“to turn, twist”), snúðr (“a twist, twirl”), English needle.

Example Sentences

• "“Frida [...] tied her hair in the Grecian snood which her lover used to admire so.”"
• "And seldom was a snood amid / Such wild, luxuriant ringlets hid."
• "serious girls with their hair in snoods entered numbers into logbooks […]"