A shawl is a piece of cloth, usually square or triangle-shaped, that you wrap around the shoulders, and sometimes over the head. It sits looser and bigger than a scarf. Women have worn shawls for warmth, for church or a wedding, or just because they look soft and finished over a dress. Some are thick wool; some are light and for evening. People stretch the word a little: a big wrap over a sofa might get called a shawl, and a baby can be wrapped in one. It is an ordinary word, a bit more at home with older speakers than with teenagers, though shops still sell them. It is not a coat, not a hijab, and not a long thin scarf — it is the cloth you drape.