robe
/rəʊb
/noun
1A long, loose outer garment reaching to the ankles: a young man in a fez and ragged robe a baby in christening robes...
- The selection of textiles range from a fragment of printed cotton purchased at a flea market to Parisian couture gowns, African wall hangings and Turkish robes.
- A boy behind him sews his robe to the prayer mat so that when the meditation is over and he stands up, the mat stands up with him.
- She wears a long robe patterned with star and sky symbols fringed with delicate pearls.
Synonyms
cloak, wrap, mantle, cape, kaftan;
North American wrapper;
Arabic dishdasha, djellaba;
Turkish dolman;
African kanzu;
Hawaiian muumuu
1.1 (often robes) A robe worn, especially on formal or ceremonial occasions, as an indication of the wearer’s rank, office, or profession: he was dressed in his archbishop’s robes after some function...
- She designed the clothes, which range from suave street garb to ceremonial robes.
- He wears his red robes of office as Judge of the King's Bench.
- Whereas Erasmus wears the black robes of an academic, the archbishop dresses in priestly white.
Synonyms
garb, regalia, costume, livery, finery, trappings;
garments, clothes
formal apparel
archaic raiment, habiliments, vestments, vesture, habit
vestment, surplice, cassock, rochet, alb, dalmatic, chasuble;
canonicals, pontificals
1.2A dressing gown or bathrobe: he was clad in a short towelling robe...
- She wrapped a red silk robe around herself and tied it.
- I would have wrapped my warm, terry cloth robe about me, but it wasn't in the bathroom.
- She carefully got out wiping her smooth legs dry then putting on the terry cotton robe to answer the door.
Synonyms
dressing gown, bathrobe, housecoat, negligee, kimono;
French peignoir, robe de chambre;
North American wrapper
2North American dated short for lap robe.
verb [with object] (usually as adjective robed)
1Clothe in a robe: a circle of robed figures [in combination]: a white-robed Bedouin...
- Instead of being robed in the skin of a lion or a leopard that is customary for African royalty, he is clad in a cape made from the skin of some wild animal.
- Simeon directs his song of praise to an elevated, imposing high priest in a scene dominated by an even more imposing crowned, splendidly robed temple guardian.
- They are robed in ermine-trimmed royal red, as in Snow White.
1.1 [no object] Put on robes, especially for a formal or ceremonial occasion: I went into the vestry and robed for the Mass
Synonyms
dress oneself, dress, get dressed, attire oneself, enrobe
archaic apparel oneself
Origin
Middle English: from Old French, from the Germanic base (in the sense 'booty') of rob (because clothing was an important component of booty).