doily

Meanings

1. A small ornamental piece of lace or linen or paper used to protect a surface from scratches by hard objects such as vases or bowls; or to decorate a plate of food.
2. A similar circular piece of lace worn as a head-covering by some married Jewish women.
3. An old kind of woollen material.

Etymology

From Doiley, the name of a 17th-century London draper. The surname is Anglo-Norman, from d'Œuilly, name of several places in Calvados, from Old French oeil (“eye”).