"fashion of dress," 1620s, from earlier sense "person's outward demeanor" (c. 1600), originally "elegance, stylishness" (1590s), from French garbe "graceful outline, gracefulness, comeliness" (Modern French galbe) or directly from Italian garbo "grace, elegance, pleasing manners, " which is from Old High German gar(a)wi "dress, equipment, preparation," or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *garwi- "equipment; adornment" (see gear (n.)).

late 14c., "judge or authority on civil law," from noun use of Old French civilien "of the civil law," created from Latin civilis "relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen; popular, affable, courteous," alternative adjectival derivative of civis "townsman" (see city). Sense of "non-military and non-clerical person, one whose pursuits are those of civilian life" is attested by 1766. As an adjective, "pertaining to or characteristic of a civilian," from 1640s.

1889, civvies, short for civilian clothes (see civilian); in reference to civilian clothes of military men.

1919, short for demobilize. Originally in reference to troops returning to civilian life at the end of World War I. Related: Demobbed.

1580s, "deprive of priestly garb," from French défroquer (15c.), from de- (see de-) + froque "frock" (see frock). Related: Defrocked. A Modern English verb frock "supply with a frock" is attested only from 1828 and probably is a back-formation from this.

"fine stripe repeated as a figure on cloth," 1882, from pin (n.), on the notion of long, slender, and straight, + stripe (n.1). Characteristic of the uniforms of many baseball teams from 1907 and after. Suits of pin-stripe cloth being the conventional garb of the mid-20c. businessman, the word came to be figurative of "executive" by 1958.