n amice is a rectangular piece of cloth with religious symbols and two cords, one affixed to each front corner. It originated as a neck scarf, which was still its form and function in the first century. People sometimes also pulled it up to use it as a head covering. It became a vestment in the eighth century. Today, it is mainly in use in the Roman Catholic Church.

When the priest is vesting (that is, putting on vestments), the amice goes on first. He puts the amice on his head, like a bonnet, then his alb. He pulls the cords around his torso, so they cross in the back, and ties them in the front. After he puts his chasuble on, he pulls the amice down around his neck so that it looks like a collar or a muffler.

Like all vestments, the amice has symbolic meaning as well as practical value. While it is temporarily on the priest's head, it symbolizes the helmut of salvation (Ephesians 6:17), and after it is pulled down, it symbolizes the burden he bears. Before Dr. John Breck invented Ph-balanced shampoo in the 1930s, people didn’t wash their hair very often, because washing your hair with soap doesn't produce happy results. As late as the 1950s, there were hair tonics and hair creams that made hair look fashionably greasy. Since the amice covers the priest’s hair while he is putting on his chasuble, it protects the chasuble from grease and hair-care products. After he pulls it down onto his shoulders, it serves as a neck scarf to protect his throat from the cold.

An amice is also known as a superhumeral, meaning “over the shoulders.”