dress
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English, from Old French dresser, drescer, drecier (“to erect, set up, arrange, dress”), from Medieval Latin * directiare, an assumed frequentive, from Latin directus (“ straight, direct”), perfect passive participle of dīrigō (“straighten, direct”), from dis- (“asunder, in pieces, apart, in two”) + regō (“make straight, rule”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
dress (countable and uncountable; plural dresses)
- (countable) An item of clothing (usually worn by a woman or young girl) which both covers the upper part of the body and includes skirts below the waist.
- Amy and Mary looked very pretty in their dresses.
- (uncountable) Apparel, clothing.
- He came to the party in formal dress.
- The system of furrows on the face of a millstone.
Derived terms [edit]
terms derived from dress (noun)
Translations [edit]
garment
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apparel
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Verb [edit]
dress (third-person singular simple present dresses, present participle dressing, simple past dressed, past participle dressed or drest (obsolete))
- (obsolete, reflexive, intransitive) To prepare oneself; to make ready. [14th-16th c.]
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book IV:
- And lyghtly syr Gawayne rose on his feet, and pulled out his swerd, and dressyd hym toward syr Marhaus on foote [...].
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book IV:
- To adorn, ornament. [from 15th c.]
- It was time to dress the windows for Christmas again.
- (transitive) To treat (a wound, or wounded person). [from 15th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.5:
- Daily she dressed him, and did the best / His grievous hurt to guarish, that she might [...].
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
- ...he was deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round his head told that he had recently been wounded, and still more recently dressed.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.5:
- (transitive) To prepare (food) for cooking, especially by seasoning it. [from 15th c.]
- (transitive) To fit out with the necessary clothing; to clothe, put clothes on (something or somebody). [from 15th c.]
- He was dressed in the latest fashions.
- (intransitive) To clothe oneself; to put on clothes. [from 18th c.]
- I rose and dressed before daybreak.
- It's very cold out. Dress warm.
- (intransitive) Of a man, to allow the genitals to fall to one side or other of the trousers. [from 20th c.]
- Does sir dress to the right or the left?
- (transitive) To prepare the surface of (a material; usually stone or lumber).
Synonyms [edit]
- (clothe (something or somebody)): clothe
- (clothe oneself): get dressed
- (prepare the surface of):
- (bandage (a wound)): bandage, put a bandage on, put a dressing on
Antonyms [edit]
- (clothe (something or somebody): strip, undress
- (clothe oneself): disrobe, get undressed, strip, undress
Derived terms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to prepare oneself
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to clothe (something or somebody)
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to clothe oneself
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to prepare the surface of (something)
to bandage (a wound)
to prepare (food)
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Statistics [edit]
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Most common English words before 1923: pale · happiness · religion · #915: dress · degree · spoken · stop
External links [edit]
- dress in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- dress in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- dress at OneLook Dictionary Search
