yarmulke

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish יאַרמלקע (yarmlke), from Polish jarmułka (“skullcap”) or a Ukrainian cognate of the same. Possibly from the Turkish yağmurluk (“rainwear”), though it could also be from Medieval Latin almutia (“hood, cowl”) (compare Latin amictus (“clothed, veiled”)).

noun

1. A skullcap worn by religious Jewish males (especially during prayer).
   And I always feel uncomfortable dur­ing the High Holy Days watching people in yarmulkes rushing through the streets, knowing they’ll be swaying and moaning something ancient and indecipherable, even to me. 1991-10-01, Richard Goldstein, “The New Anti-Semitism: A Geshrei”, in Village Voice, page 33
   But once Dr. Levenson, who works for the Indian Health Service and wears a colorful tapestry yarmulke, has alerted the tiny network, it almost seems as if we have stepped into Yiddishland. April 29, 2007, Patricia Cohen, “The Frozen Dozen”, in New York Times