[fish-ooz; French fee-shy] /ˈfɪʃ uz; French fiˈʃü/ (Show IPA)
1.
a woman's kerchief or shawl, generally triangular in shape, worn draped over the shoulders or around the neck with the ends drawn together on the breast.
Origin
1795-1805; < French: noun use of fichu, past participle of ficher to drive in, fix (informally, to throw, fling; hence, something put on hastily, loosely attached) < Vulgar Latin*fīgicāre, for Latinfīgere; cf. finca
Examples from the web for fichu
Over the combination corsage was worn an elegant fichu of duchesse lace, held by a valuable diamond breech, a gift of the groom.
New patterns are constantly coming in, and the variety in flounce scarf and fichu are wonderful, as well as novel and graceful.
British Dictionary definitions for fichu
fichu
/ˈfiːʃuː/
noun
1.
a woman's shawl or scarf of some light material, worn esp in the 18th century
Word Origin
C19: from French: small shawl, from ficher to fix with a pin, from Latin fīgere to fasten, fix
Word Origin and History for fichu
n.
1803, from French fichu (18c. in this sense), apparently a noun use of the adj. fichu "carelessly thrown on," from Latin figere "to fasten" (see fix). "[M]od. substitution for a coarser word" [Weekley].