Napkin

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A napkin is a small square of cloth or paper used at table for mouth while eating. The word is from Middle English, borrowing the French nappe— a cloth covering for a table— and adding -kin, the diminutive suffix.

Conventionally the napkin is folded and placed to the left of the place setting, outside the outermost fork. In an ambitious restaurant setting, or a caterer's hall, it may be folded into more or less elaborate shapes and displayed on the empty plate.

A 'napkin' is also a small scarf placed on the head by a woman entering a Roman Catholic church, as a conventional token of modesty.

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