subs. (common).Orig. a silk handkerchief with white, yellow, or other coloured spots on a dark ground. Also (loosely) a handkerchief of any kind: see WIPE.
1752. J. LONG, Bengal (1870), I., 31. Plain taffaties, ordinary BANDANNOES, and chappas.
1824. Annual Register, 140. 2. BANDANA handkerchiefs.
1843. CARLYLE, Past and Present (1858), 285. Beautiful BANDANNA webs.
1855. THACKERAY, The Newcomes, iv. The Colonel was striding about the room puffing his cigar fiercely anon, and then waving his yellow BANDANNA.
1875. I. L. BIRD, Six Months among the Sandwich Islands, 134. Many had tied BANDANAS in a graceful knot over the left shoulder.