What does barbe mean?
A barbe is a length of linen or similar fabric worn by women—most characteristically nuns, but also widows and at times queens—to cover the chin and the sides of the neck. It formed part of formal and religious dress from the medieval period onward, serving both a modesty function and, in some orders, a marker of rank or stage of profession within the community. A second, more specialized sense appears in heraldry, where a barbe denotes streamers attached to the back of a helmet to indicate the arms of a woman. The word derives through Old French from the Latin barba, meaning 'beard', a fitting source given that the garment covered precisely the area a beard would occupy. Today the word survives almost exclusively in historical scholarship, costume studies, and heraldic description, lending it a distinctly archaic and learned flavor; it is rarely if ever heard outside those contexts.
A linen cloth covering the chin and neck, worn by nuns, widows, or other women as part of formal or religious dress.
"The prioress's crisp white barbe framed her face during the ceremony."
In heraldry, a pair of streamers attached to the back of a helmet, used to denote the arms of a woman.
"The achievement on the monument includes a barbe behind the tilting helmet, marking it as her coat of arms."
This heraldic sense is technical and appears only in armorial contexts.
The standard English plural simply adds -s.
"The convent's inventory listed dozens of starched barbes ready for the novices."
The word for the cloth a nun wore to cover her chin comes straight from the Latin for 'beard'—because that's exactly where it sat.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of barbe
The word barbe entered English from Old French, which took it from the Latin barba, meaning 'beard'—an apt origin for a garment designed to cover the chin. It belongs to the same family of derivatives as barber, barb, and barbel, all tracing back to that Latin root. Its use in English is attested primarily in descriptions of religious and aristocratic dress from the medieval and early modern periods, and it persists today chiefly in heraldic terminology.
Related word forms
How barbe is actually used
The term is largely historical and now encountered mainly in discussions of medieval and early modern dress, conventual life, and heraldry. It carries a formal, scholarly register and would sound archaic in everyday conversation.
Easily confused with barbe
A barb is a sharp backward-pointing projection on a hook, arrow, or wire—or a cutting remark—whereas a barbe is a garment of linen worn on the head and chin.
Barbecue refers to cooking food over open flame (and is unrelated in meaning), while a barbe is a piece of ecclesiastical or formal headwear.