What does fezzes mean?
Fezzes is the plural of fez, a distinctive brimless hat made of red felt, shaped like a truncated cone with a flat top and finished with a black tassel. The hat takes its name from the Moroccan city of Fez, and it became widely worn across the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century, where it served as a symbol of modern reform before later being displaced by Western headwear such as the top hat. In English usage today, fezzes appears most often in discussions of history, costume, and culture: descriptions of Ottoman dress, depictions of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern attire, and references to fraternal groups like the Shriners, whose ceremonial regalia famously includes the hat. The word is concrete and descriptive rather than figurative, carrying connotations of exoticism, ceremony, and a bygone imperial era. Knowing it enriches reading about nineteenth-century history and adds precise vocabulary for discussing traditional headwear.
nounFezzes is the plural of fez: a flat-topped, brimless red felt hat with a black tassel, originally associated with the Ottoman Empire and North Africa.
- Plural of fez: flat-topped, cone-shaped, brimless hats of red felt with a black tassel, historically worn in the Ottoman Empire and still associated with certain fraternal orders.
"The Shriners marched in the parade, their bright red fezzes catching the afternoon sun."
"The band members wore matching fezzes as part of their vintage uniform."
"In the museum display, several ornate fezzes illustrated Ottoman courtly dress."
Fezzes is already the standard plural of fez; the singular is fez.
"The marching band's fezzes were embroidered with golden insignia."
The fez is named after the Moroccan city of Fez, where the crimson dye for the hats was once produced.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fezzes
English borrowed 'fez' in the early seventeenth century from Turkish 'fes', which itself derives from Fes (Fez), the Moroccan city long famed for producing the crimson dye used to color the hats. The plural fezzes follows the regular English pattern for nouns ending in a sibilant sound. The closely similar term 'tarboosh', from Arabic via Turkish, denotes essentially the same hat.
Related word forms
How fezzes is actually used
Fezzes is simply the standard English plural of fez; it carries no figurative senses and appears mostly in historical, cultural, or costume-related contexts. The word often evokes the Ottoman era, Moroccan tradition, or fraternal organizations such as the Shriners.
Easily confused with fezzes
Fizzes is the plural of fizz (bubbly drinks or sounds), whereas fezzes refers to the brimless felt hats; they differ in both spelling and initial consonant.