Napkin

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Folded napkin

A napkin or serviette is a rectangle of cloth or paper used at the table for wiping the mouth while eating. It is usually small and folded. The word comes 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 may also be held together in a bundle (with cutlery) by a napkin ring.

Great inventions or ideas are stereotypically first conceived on a paper napkin. An example of such an idea is J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

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. This practice is largely extinct in modern times.

[edit] See also

Paper towel, a similar item, but used conventionally to dry the hands and face or to clean up messes that have been made.
Sanitary napkin (US English) or sanitary pad / towel (UK English) is a small shaped tissue that women may use to collect menstrual blood during their menses.
Wet wipe
Back of a napkin
U and non-U English
Napkin ring