nuby

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

nuby (plural nubies)

1. An article of clothing similar to a scarf or a shawl.
   • 1 June 1804, Henry James, “Pandora”, in The New York Sun:

     She wore entwined about her head an article which Mrs. Dangerfield spoke of as a "nuby," a knitted pink scarf concealing her hair, encircling her neck and having among its convolutions a hole for her perfectly expressionless face.

   • 1902, Ellen Glasgow, The Battle Ground:

     "The little white nuby in my top drawer, Betty—I felt a chill striking the back of my neck."

   • 1904, Ellen Glasgow, The Deliverance; A Romance of the Virginia Tobacco Fields:

     "I met her at a church festival one Christmas Eve," responded Aunt Saidie, in a high-pitched, rasping voice. "The same evening that I got this pink crocheted nuby." She touched a small pointed shawl about her shoulders.

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