vinoks

Noun

vinok (plural vinoks)

1. A traditional Ukrainian wreath chiefly decorated with flowers and other plant parts, which is worn by women and girls as a headdress.
   • [T]he unmarried young woman's headdress, the vinok (wreath or garland) of natural or artificial flowers, […] was worn by maidens (divky, divchata), i.e., virgins, eligible for marriage. In pre-Christian times, it was believed that a vinok protected girls from the "nechysta syla" (the unclean, i.e....1999 August 1, Orysia Paszczak Tracz, “The Things We Do … Vinok, Vinochok”, in The Ukrainian Weekly, volume LXVII, number 31, Jersey City, N.J.: Ukrainian National Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived...