Word.ws English Dictionary

fichu

Syllables: fi·chu/ˈfɪʃ(j)uː/US/ˈfɪʃ(j)uː/

fichu noun: a woman's lightweight triangular scarf worn over the shoulders and tied in front, or tucked into a bodice to cover the exposed part of the neck and chest.

Noun

fichu (plural fichus)

  1. (historical) A woman's lightweight triangular scarf worn over the shoulders and tied in front, or tucked into a bodice to cover the exposed part of the neck and chest.
    • No. 2.—Carriage Dress. A dress of taffety of the very lightest tinge of willow-green; with four broad tucks, or bias folds, round the border, carried up almost the whole length of the skirt. The body made quite plain; and an elegant fichu worn over it, made of fine India muslin, with a standing-up...1827 September, “Records of the Beau Monde. Fashions for September, 1827. Explanation of the Prints of the Fashions.”, in La Belle Assemblée, or Court and Fashionable Magazine; […], volume VI, number...
    • The ‘fichu’ proper, introduced by Marie-Antoinette, not before the décolletée style of toilette made it positively necessary, was nothing more than a lace kerchief worn crossed over the shoulders.1868 May, “Fashion at Longchamps”, in London Society. An Illustrated Magazine of Light and Amusing Literature for the Hours of Relaxation, volume XIII, number LXXVII, London: Office, 217, Piccadilly...

fichu meaning in Arabic

fichu in Arabic

woman's lightweight triangular scarf
شَال šāl

Examples of fichu in a sentence

  • The body made quite plain; and an elegant fichu worn over it, made of fine India muslin, with a standing-up collar; finished by a full frill-trimming of very fine lace.1827 September, “Records of the Beau Monde. Fashions for September, 1827. Explanation of the Prints of the Fashions.”, in La Belle...
  • The fichu is made in such a manner that it can at pleasure be either at the neck or in the center of the back, or at the waist, according as the fichu is arranged, more or less forward in front.1872 June, “Fashions for June”, in Charles Jacobs Peterson, editor, Peterson’s Magazine, volume LXI, number 6, Philadelphia, Pa.: Charles...
  • Assistant Van admired her elegant slenderness, the gray tailor-made suit, the smoky fichu and as it wafted away, her long white neck.1969, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 5, in Ada, or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1970...
  • A dress might be given a different look by the addition of a fichu.2009, Dorothy Denneen Volo, James M. Volo, “The Look: Fashion and Women’s Clothing”, in Daily Life in Civil War America (Greenwood Press...

Forms of fichu

pluralfichus

Origin of fichu

Borrowed from French fichu (“(noun) triangular scarf; (adjective) got up, put together”) (in the sense of something thrown on without much thought), from ficher (“to drive something (such as a nail) by its point”), ultimately from Latin fīgō (“to fasten, fix; to pierce, transfix; to drive (a nail)”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to set up”).

Words that rhyme with fichu

Questions about fichu

What does fichu mean?
Fichu means a woman's lightweight triangular scarf worn over the shoulders and tied in front, or tucked into a bodice to cover the exposed part of the neck and chest.
What is fichu in Arabic?
Fichu in Arabic is شَال (šāl). See Fichu meaning in Arabic.
How do you use fichu in a sentence?
The body made quite plain; and an elegant fichu worn over it, made of fine India muslin, with a standing-up collar; finished by a full frill-trimming of very fine lace.
What part of speech is fichu?
Fichu is a noun.
How do you pronounce fichu?
Fichu is pronounced /ˈfɪʃ(j)uː/ (UK).
What is the plural of fichu?
The plural of fichu is fichus.

Words near fichu in the dictionary

  1. fichtelite
  2. Fichter
  3. Fichters
  4. Fichtner
  5. Fichtners
  6. fichu
  7. fichus
  8. fiché
  9. fichée
  10. ficid
  11. ficids

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fichu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fichu.wav.

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