Awimple is a medieval form of femaleheadcovering, formed of a large piece of cloth worn draped around theneck andchin, covering the top of thehead; it was usually made from whitelinen orsilk. Its use developed in earlymedieval Europe; in medievalChristianity it was unseemly for a married woman to show her hair. A wimple might be elaborately starched, creased and folded in prescribed ways. Later elaborate versions were supported on wire or wicker framing, such as thecornette.

Italian women abandoned their head coverings in the 15th century or replaced them with transparentgauze, showing theirbraids. Elaborate braiding and elaborately laundered clothes demonstrated status, because such grooming was performed by others. Today a plain wimple is worn by thenuns of certain orders who retain a traditionalhabit.^[3]

TheWife of Bath and thePrioress are depicted wearing wimples in theCanterbury Tales ofGeoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 1400).

TheKing James Version of theBible explicitly lists wimples inIsaiah 3:22 as one of a list of female fineries; however, theHebrew word"miṭpaḥoth" (מִטְפָּחוֹת) means "kerchief".

Marvel’sThe Scarlet Witch was originally conceived by artistJack Kirby as wearing a peaked red wimple. In the decades since, it has been reduced in size and evolved into more of a tiara.

• Guimpe
• Headpiece
• Headscarf
• Hijab
• Veil

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