yarmulke

• yarmalka, yarmalke, yarmelka, yarmelke, yarmulka, yamacha, yermulke (rhotic variants)
• yamaka, yamalka, yamalke, yamelka, yamelke, yamilke, yamuka, yamulka, yamulke (nonrhotic variants)

Borrowed from Yiddish יאַרמלקע (yarmlke), from Polish jarmułka (“skullcap”) or a Ukrainian cognate of the same. Possibly from the Turkish yağmurluk (“rainwear”), though it could also be from Medieval Latin almutia (“hood, cowl”) (compare Latin amictus (“clothed, veiled”)).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈjɑːməlkə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈjɑ(ɹ)mə(l)kə/

• Audio (US)

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yarmulke (plural yarmulkes)

1. A skullcap worn by religious Jewish males (especially during prayer). [from 1903]

   Synonyms: kippah, kappel, skullcap

   • 1991 October 1, Richard Goldstein, “The New Anti-Semitism: A Geshrei”, in Village Voice‎, page 33:

     And I always feel uncomfortable dur­ing the High Holy Days watching people in yarmulkes rushing through the streets, knowing they’ll be swaying and moaning something ancient and indecipherable, even to me.

   • 2007 April 29, Patricia Cohen, “The Frozen Dozen”, in New York Times‎:

     But once Dr. Levenson, who works for the Indian Health Service and wears a colorful tapestry yarmulke, has alerted the tiny network, it almost seems as if we have stepped into Yiddishland.

• Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th Edition (1997)
  
• “yarmulke”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.