Coif

Coif (perhaps Ger. kopf), a covering for the head, sometimes a close cap used for the protection of the head from the weather, sometimes to prevent the chafing of a helmet or other head-mail. It became part of legal headdress, especially of sergeants-at-law, whose degree is sometimes called that of the coif. After the disuse of the coif proper and the adoption of the wig, a patch upon the top of the wig preserved the memory of the coif. The word also denotes a cap worn by elderly females in Scotland.