surplicedadj.
/ˈsəːplɪst/ a. Wearing or vested in a surplice.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > vestments > outer garments > [adjective] > dressed in a surplice
surpliced1762
surplice-backed1825
1762 D. Mallet Poems on Several Occasions 78 As the surplic'd train draw near To this last mansion of mankind.
1835 I. Taylor Spiritual Despotism vi. 262 The hundreds of surpliced idlers that swelled the episcopal pageant.
1852 D. Rock Church our Fathers III. i. 371 Headed by coped and surpliced choristers.
1871 Echo 6 Jan. In 180 [churches] the surplice is used in the pulpit, in 151 there are surpliced choirs.
b. figurative. Clothed in white.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [adjective] > covered or coated with white
whitedOE
whitened1574
sugar-candied1592
candied1600
surpliced1845
besnowed1849
1845 Kingsley in Macmillan's Mag. No. 246. 520 Frozen fields that surpliced lie.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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adj.1762