HANDKERCHIEF. The Gr. soudarion is a transliteration of the Latin word sudarium, which was a cloth intended to wipe sweat from the face. Handkerchiefs were brought from Paul’s body for healing purposes (Acts.19.12); the wicked servant (Luke.19.20-Luke.19.23) kept his lord’s money “in a piece of cloth”; the face of dead Lazarus was enclosed in a cloth (the same word) (John.11.44), as was also the face of our Lord (John.20.7).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

A loan-word from the Latin sudarium, found in plural in Ac 19:12, soudaria; compare sudor, "perspiration"; literally, "a cloth used to wipe off perspiration." Elsewhere it is rendered "napkin" (Lu 19:20; Joh 11:44; 20:7), for which see [[Dress]]; [[Napkin]].