A neckcloth; a piece of silk, fine muslin, or other cloth, worn by men about the neck
neckcloth or neckerchief, at first of lawn folded and wrapped about the neck with colored ribbon used to tie the ends in place; later refined to one end overlapping the other
A cravat is a piece of folded cloth which a man wears wrapped around his neck. a wide piece of loosely folded material that men wear around their necks tie (cravate, from Cravate ; from the scarves worn by 17th-century Croatian soldiers)
[ kr&-'vat ] (noun.) circa 1656. From French cravate, an appellative use of Cravate, from Flemish Krawaat, from German Krawatte, from Serbo-Croatian Hr̀vāt/Хр̀ва̄т (“Croat”).