▪ I. clad, ppl. a.
(klæd)
[ME. clad(d, f. OE. cláðod, -ed, inflected cláðde, cládde: see clothe v. Clad belongs to all dialects; but, beside it, the north. dial. has cled, ME. cled(d, f. ON. klædd-r pa. pple. of klæða to clothe. As clad and cled are identical in meaning, they have been naturally taken as mere variants of the same word, and in this capacity cled occurs in other than northern writers: it is now however treated simply as the northern (chiefly Sc.) pronunciation of clad. This is one of the pa. pples. in which the prefix y- was resuscitated by the Elizabethan archaists, from whom yclad comes down as a ‘Spenserian’ form.]
1. a. Covered with clothes (or armour), clothed.
| [c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark v. 15 Sittende ᵹecladed & hales ðohtes.] a 1300 Cursor M. 1046 Wid griss and leues is he cladd. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 79 Cladde or clothydde, vestitus. 1463 Bury Wills (1850) 17, v. men clade in blak. 1484 Caxton Chivalry 89 Wel cladde. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 62 In comely wise..yclad. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 1 A gentle Knight..Ycladd in mightie armes and silver shielde. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. i. 166 The Morne in Russet mantle clad. a 1764 Lloyd Progr. Envy Poet. Wks. 1774 I. 146 A Female Form, yclad in snowy white. 1875 Jowett Plato III. 27 They are lightly clad in summer. |
(β) cled, etc.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5135 (Cott.) Cled..wit riche wede. Ibid. 13122 A man..cledd in silk. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 13 A man cled wiþ softe cloþis. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 217 In colours of clene golde cleede. c 1400 Rom. Rose 472 Wel fedde, Or wel araied or cledde. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 133 Lo here a lytter redy cled. 1570 Levins Manip. 48 Cledde, vestitus. |
b. transf. Covered as with clothing.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3241 The close..With clauer and clereworte clede euene ouer. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 5 The trees clad with leuys and blossoms. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. ix. 16 A cottage clad with lome. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. (1682) 124 Xerxes..seeing all the Sea clad with his Army. 1670–98 R. Lassels Voy. Italy I. 65 A world of..trees clad with chirping birds. 1816 Southey Poet's Pilgr. ii. iv, Vine-clad hills. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xiv. 275 A long spur, now clad with olives. |
c. Bearing a cladding (cladding vbl. n. 2).
| 1862 [see armour-clad ppl. a.]. 1940 J. D. Jevons Metall. Deep Drawing viii. 262 The statements..do not apply to ‘clad’ sheet, that is to Duralumin sheet having a thin coating of pure aluminium. 1959 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXCI. 295/2 Steel clad with Ni on one side was hot-rolled to 10 mm. |
2. a. fig. Invested, arrayed, decked.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 802 (Gött.) In welth and bliss was clad. 1436 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 203 He that was here claude in humanité. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Ordination of Priests, That they may be cladde aboute with all Justice. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 71 Quha abhorred nocht to be cled with my fleshe. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. i. 33 Her words yclad with wisedomes Maiesty. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. (1682) 289 The Sphynx with grandeur cled. 1683 Selden Engl. Epin. iv. Wks. (1726) III. 17 A description of it..is thus clad in rhythmes. c 1720 Prior Hymn to Sun 29 Clad in rising majesty. |
b. Sc. Law. Endowed or furnished with.
| c 1550 Balfour Practicks (1754) 254 (Jam.) Until scho be maryit and cled with ane husband. Ibid. 340 The principall tenant, with quhais richt thay ar cled. 1858 Chambers Dom. Ann. Scotland II. 387 The Marquis of Argyle had obtained a formal gift of this vessel..and had become ‘clad with possession’ by taking guns..out of it. |
3. clad (cled) score: Sc. twenty-one, i.e. a score clad or furnished with one over.
| 1791 P. Parton Kirkcudb. Statist. Acc. I. 187 (Jam.) Thankfulness to his Maker for having at last sent him the cled score, i.e. 21. 1863 N. Brit. Daily Mail 18 Aug., An increase of from 5s. to 10s. per clad score was obtained. |
▪ II. clad, v.
[app. educed from prec.]
1. Obs. or arch. a. To clothe, dress.
| [a 1300 Cursor M. 20362 (Cott.) Angels sal..kepe þe in al þi stat, And clad te, bath ar and lat.] 1579 Cyuile & Vncyuile Life (1868) 14 We clad them simply, to eschue pride. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xxiv. (Arb.) 63 Which was done..by cladding the mourners..in blacke vestures. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. iv. 4 To clad his corpse with meete habiliments. 1636 E. Dacres tr. Machiavel's Disc. Livy I. 213 Cladding himselfe with the ornaments belonging to his degree and quality. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. (1870) I. ii. 459 Find raiment meet To clad him with. |
b. transf. To cover as with clothing.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 483 The leafe..embracing the Cane, doth clad it round about with certaine thin membranes. 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. ii. 38 Cloud-berries..clad the tops of Mountanous fells. |
c. fig.
| 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 95/1 He claddeth vs with his own glory. 1627–8 Feltham Resolves (1677) i. lxxiii, When we haue to deal with such, we clad ourselues in their contraries. |
2. To apply a cladding to; to cover with a cladding (cladding vbl. n. 2). So ˈcladded ppl. a.
| 1939 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLIII. 559 The resultant drop in strength of the cladded article is very small. 1947 Archit. Jrnl. 16 Oct., The necessity of cladding a very light frame with a clumsy intractable material which is neither a panel nor a wall permitting a clear expression of the structure. 1964 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 75/3 ‘Dished’ 22-gauge stainless steel panels are used to clad London Transport Executive's new Elephant & Castle substation. |