the.com/kippah

means A small, usually round cap worn on the crown of the head, most often by Jewish men, as a sign of reverence before God.

from From Hebrew 'kippah,' meaning 'dome' or 'covering' — the same root sense you hear in the dome of a building. The custom of covering the head predates the specific word, rooted in Jewish tradition of keeping something between oneself and the heavens above; the word simply settled onto the garment that does the job. In Yiddish and everyday English it's also called a 'yarmulke,' a separate word with its own disputed history, possibly from Aramaic or Polish — the two terms traveled different roads to the same small circle of cloth.