1795–1805; < Turkish fes, after Fes Fez
A fez is a little round hat with a tassel on top. Fez is a French word that comes from the city of Fez in Morocco, where most of the hats were once made. A fez is always cylindrical and often red. Years ago, the fez was the official national hat of Turkey, and before that the Ottoman Empire. Turkey banned fezzes in the 1920s in an effort to become more modern. Today fezzes are typically worn by certain groups of Muslims and members of fraternal organizations such as the Shriners and the Elks.
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Fez, for example, is a favourite destination for many Senegalese Muslim followers of Tidianism, an influential brotherhood in Senegal whose founder, Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane, is buried there.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
In the same town, 19-year-old student Imane ait Said looked over the rubble of her house after returning from the city of Fez where she was studying.
From Reuters • Sep. 13, 2023
The actors portrayed love interests Lexi and Fez on the HBO show.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 4, 2023
And she was still searching for the man who would play Fezco "Fez" O'Neill.
From BBC • Aug. 1, 2023
A group of Jews who tried to sail south from the port of Cádiz to the kingdom of Fez died in a terrible fire.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
