snood

/snuːd/

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.

snood means 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. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

SNOOD — [Noun] A net or bag of fabric for confining the hair, or the pendulous flesh adorning a male turkey’s head and neck. From Middle English snod, from Old English snōd (“headdress, fillet”), from Proto-Germanic *snōdō (“rope, string”), from Proto-Indo-European *snoh₁téh₂ (“yarn, thread”), from the root *sneh₁(i)- (“to twist, wind”). Unlike a hairnet, which is an open mesh cage, or a fascinator, which is a decorative caprice, the snood is a modest, practical confinement. It is the capacious velvet pouch containing a Victorian lady’s chignon, the coarse woolen caul of a medieval peasant, and the raw, pendulous wattle that flushes crimson on a courting tom—three forms of restraint, one woven, one worn, one grown, each a quiet testament to the ancient art of holding chaos in a graceful knot.

noun

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.““Frida [...] tied her hair in the Grecian snood which her lover used to admire so.””
A small hairnet or cap worn by women to keep their hair in place.“And seldom was a snood amid / Such wild, luxuriant ringlets hid.”
The flap of erectile red skin on the beak of a male turkey.“A fingerlike projection called a snood hangs over the front of the beak. When the tom is alert, the snood constricts and projects vertically as a fleshy bump at the top rear of the beak.”
A short line of horsehair, gut, monofilament, etc., by which a fishhook is attached to a longer (and usually heavier) line; a snell.
A piece of clothing to keep the neck warm; neckwarmer.

verb

To keep the hair in place with a snood.“Janet has kilted her green kirtle A little aboon her knee, And she has snooded her yellow hair”