handkerchief
hand·ker·chief/ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃɪf/noun
handkerchief is spelled H-A-N-D-K-E-R-C-H-I-E-F: 12 letters and 3 syllables (hand·ker·chief). It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, handkerchief means “A piece of cloth, usually square and often fine and elegant, carried for wiping the face, eyes, nose or hands” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of handkerchief is handkerchiefs or handkerchieves.
How many letters and syllables are in handkerchief?
| Letters | 12: H-A-N-D-K-E-R-C-H-I-E-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: hand·ker·chief |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is handkerchief?
Handkerchief appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce handkerchief?
- UK /ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃɪf/
- UK [ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃɪf]
- UK /ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃiːf/
Handkerchief has 3 syllables, split hand·ker·chief in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-handkerchief.ogg, En-us-handkerchief.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of handkerchief
- handkerchiefs plural
- handkerchieves plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does handkerchief mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A piece of cloth, usually square and often fine and elegant, carried for wiping the face, eyes, nose or hands.
He sneezed into his handkerchief during the meeting.
- 2
A piece of cloth shaped like a handkerchief to be worn about the neck; a neckerchief or neckcloth.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate handkerchief?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of handkerchief: hdkf, hdkf., hkf..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Handkerchief in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense cloth for wiping the face, eyes, nose or hands:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mouchoir |
| German | Taschentuch |
| Portuguese | lenço |
| Spanish | pañuelo, moquero, mocador |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does handkerchief come from?
From hand + kerchief.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).