protective garment | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

196 entries found.

outer garment of coarse, woolen stuff, of a type worn in Arabia and Syria, 1811, from Arabic. Also of the cloth it is made from (often goat or camel hair).

helm (n.2)

"a helmet, a defensive cover for the head," from Old English helm "protection, covering; crown, helmet," from Proto-Germanic *helmaz "protective covering" (Cognates: Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old High German helm, German Helm, Old Norse hjalmr, Gothic hilms), from PIE root *kel- (1) "to cover, conceal, save." Italian elmo, Spanish yelmo are from Germanic.

whole cloth (n.)

early 15c., "piece of cloth of full size," as opposed to a piece cut out for a garment; figurative sense first attested 1570s.

surplice (n.)

"loose white robe," c. 1200, from Old French surpeliz (12c.), from Medieval Latin superpellicium (vestmentum) "a surplice," literally "an over fur (garment)," from Latin super "over" (see super-) + Medieval Latin pellicium "fur garment, tunic of skins," from Latin pellis "skin" (from PIE root *pel- (3) "skin, hide"). So called because it was donned over fur garments worn by clergymen for warmth in unheated medieval churches.

jupe (n.)

late 13c., "men's loose jacket," from Old French jupe "tunic worn under the armor," also a gown or woman's skirt (12c.), from Arabic jubbah "loose outer garment." As a woman's bodice, from 1810. Jupon is from a French variant form.

Lupercalia (n.)

Roman festival held Feb. 15 in honor of Lupercus a god (identified with Lycean Pan, hence regarded as a protective divinity of shepherds) who had a grotto at the foot of the Palatine Hill, from Latin Lupercalia (plural), from Lupercalis "pertaining to Lupercus," whose name derives from lupus "wolf" (see wolf (n.)). The ceremony is regarded as dating from distant antiquity. Related: Lupercalian.

angiosperm (n.)

"plant with seeds contained in a protective vessel" (as distinguished from a gymnosperm, in which the seeds are naked), 1852, from Modern Latin Angiospermae, coined 1690 by German botanist Paul Hermann (1646-1695), from Greek angeion "vessel" (see angio-) + spermos, adjective from sperma "seed" (see sperm). So called because the seeds in this class of plants are enclosed. Related: Angiospermous.

gown (n.)

long, loose outer garment, c. 1300, from Old French goune "robe, coat; (nun's) habit, gown," related to Late Latin gunna "leather garment, skin, hide," of unknown origin. Used by St. Boniface (8c.) for a fur garment permitted for old or infirm monks. Klein writes that it is probably "a word adopted from a language of the Apennine or the Balkan Peninsula." OED points to Byzantine Greek gouna, a word for a coarse garment sometimes made of skins, but also notes "some scholars regard it as of Celtic origin."

In 18c., gown was the common word for what now usually is styled a dress. It was maintained more in the U.S. than in Britain, but was somewhat revived 20c. in fashion senses and in combinations (such as bridal gown, nightgown). Meaning "flowing robe worn on official occasions as a badge of office or authority" is from late 14c. As collective singular for "residents of a university" (1650s) it typically is used in rhyming opposition to town.

panty-waist (n.)

also pantywaist, "weak or effeminate male," 1936, from a type of child's garment with short pants that buttoned to the waist of a shirt; see panties + waist.

catsuit (n.)

also cat-suit, "tight-fitting full-body garment," 1960, from cat (n.) + suit (n.). Perhaps so called because suitable for slinking.

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