coif, close-fitting cap of white linen that covered the ears and was tied with strings under the chin, like a baby’s bonnet. It appeared at the end of the 12th century as an additional head protection worn under the hood by men, and it persisted into the 16th century as ecclesiastic or legal headgear, sometimes worn alone, sometimes as an undercap.
The coif could also be an indoor skullcap of black cloth or silk. As worn by women from the 16th to the 18th century, it was sometimes embroidered in coloured silks and made to curve out over the ears or was simple and kept under a hat.