clothe

English

Alternative forms

• cloathe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English clothen, from Old English *clāþian (“to clothe”), from Proto-Germanic *klaiþōną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to adhere to, stick”). Cognate with Dutch kleden, German kleiden, Swedish kläda, after apocope klä. See also cloth, clad.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkləʊð/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkloʊð/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊð

Verb

clothe (third-person singular simple present clothes, present participle clothing, simple past and past participle clothed or (archaic) clad)

1. (transitive) To adorn or cover with clothing; to dress; to supply clothes or clothing.

   to feed and clothe a family; to clothe oneself extravagantly

   • c. 1590-92, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew‎^[1], act IV, scene ii:

     Go with me to clothe you as becomes you.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:21:

     For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

   • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC:

     The naked every day he clad, / When he put on his clothes.

2. (figurative) To cover or invest, as if with a garment.

   to clothe somebody with authority or power

   • 1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC:

     language in which they can clothe their thoughts

   • 1726, John Dyer, Grongar Hill:

     His sides are clothed with waving wood.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     words clothed in reason's garb

Synonyms

• (to adorn or cover with clothing): dight, don, put on; see also Thesaurus:clothe

Derived terms

• beclothe
• enclothe
• overclothe
• reclothe
• unclothe
• underclothe

 

Translations

adorn with clothing

• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܥܛܦ (ʿṭaf)

• Armenian: հագցնել (hy) (hagcʻnel)
• Aromanian: nvescu
• Belarusian: апрана́ць impf (apranácʹ), апрану́ць pf (apranúcʹ)
• Bulgarian: обличам (bg) (obličam)
• Dutch: kleden (nl)
• Egyptian: (ḥbs)
• Esperanto: vesti
• Finnish: pukeutua (fi), pukea ylleen
• French: vêtir (fr), habiller (fr)
• Friulian: vistî
• German: bekleiden (de), anziehen (de)
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wasjan)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἱματίζω (himatízō)

• Hungarian: öltöztet (hu), felöltöztet (hu), ruház (hu), felruház (hu), ruhával ellát, (to cover) fed (hu), burkol (hu), borít (hu), takar (hu)
• Icelandic: klæða (is)
• Ido: vestizar (io), metar (io)
• Ingrian: vaatoittaa
• Italian: vestire (it)
• Kapampangan: piblasan
• Latin: vestiō
• Maori: whakakākahu, tāwharu, whakapūngenengene
• Persian: لباس پوشاندن (fa)
• Portuguese: vestir (pt)
• Romanian: îmbrăca (ro)
• Russian: одева́ть (ru) impf (odevátʹ), оде́ть (ru) pf (odétʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgeadaich
• Spanish: vestir (es)
• Swedish: klä (sv)
• Tagalog: damitan, bihisan
• Ukrainian: одяга́ти (odjaháty), вдяга́ти (uk) (vdjaháty)
• Yiddish: אָנטאָן (onton)

(figurative) to cover or invest, as if with a garment

• Hungarian: felruház (hu), ráruház (hu)

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English clāþ.

Noun

clothe

1. Alternative form of cloth

Etymology 2

From Old English *clāþian.

Verb

clothe

1. Alternative form of clothen
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, lines 101-104:

     A YEMAN hadde he and servantz namo / At that tyme, for hym liste ride soo; / And he was clad in cote and hood of grene.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)