▪ I. gown, n.
(gaʊn)
Forms: 4–6 goun(e, 4–7 gowne, (6 Sc. gounn, 8–9 vulgar gownd), 4– gown.
[a. OF. goune, gone, gonne fem., a Com. Rom. word = Pr. gona, OSp. gona, It. gonna:—med.L. gunna, used in the 8th c. by St. Boniface for a garment of fur permitted to elderly or infirm monks. A late L. gunna ‘skin, fur’, is quoted from a scholiast on Verg. Georg. iii. 383, and in Byzantine Gr. γοῦνα is common as the name of a coarse garment, sometimes described as made of skins.
The origin of the Rom. word is obscure. Some scholars regard it as of Celtic origin, comparing the Welsh g{wcirc}n, Irish f{uacu}an ‘lacerna’, which are referred by Stokes (Fick's Idg. Wb.4 II. 281) to an OCeltic *vo-ouno-, f. vo- (= Gr. ὑπό under) + root ou- to clothe (cf. L. ex-u-ĕre, ind-u-ĕre, sub-ū-cula). But Loth (Rev. Celt. XX. 353) raises phonological objections, and believes the Welsh word to be adopted from Eng. (as are the Irish g{uacu}nn, Gael. gùn, Manx goon). In any case the Celtic origin of the Rom. word does not seem to accord with the geographical probabilities. Albanian has gunë cloak, but it is uncertain whether this is native or adopted from Gr.]
1. A loose flowing upper garment worn as an article of ordinary attire. a. By men. (See also senses 3 and 4.)
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 145 Þow art a gome vngoderly in þat goun febele. 1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 352 A gown on his armyng he had. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 904 Syr, what Robe or govn pleseth it yow to were to day? 1483 Act 1 Rich. III, c. 12 §1 No Merchant Stranger..shall bring into this Realm..Clasps for Gowns. 1532–3 Act 24 Hen. VIII, c. 13 No man vnder the degree of a barons sonne..shall weare any maner of veluet in their gownes. a 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxlviii. v, You, that proud of native gown Stand fresh and tall to see. 1607 Shakes. Timon iii. vi. 120, I haue lost my Gowne. 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) II. 199 He wears an Uzbek shirt and a gown, over which is a girdle. |
b. By women. In
mod. use, a garment fitting close to the upper part of the body with flowing skirts;
= frock 4.
In the 18th c. it was the ordinary word; subsequently it was to a great extent superseded in colloquial use by
dress, but has latterly been somewhat more common,
esp. in fashionable use, as applied to a dress with some pretension to elegance, and in
Comb. as
dinner-gown,
tea-gown. In the
U.S. it has always been the current word.
| 1397 in Dugdale Monasticon Angl. (1846) IV. 194 Quod non utantur..jupis Anglicè gounes. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 65 This woman had tenne diuerse gownes and as mani cotes. 15.. Adam Bel & Clym of Clough 73 in Ritson Anc. P.P. 8 They gave to her a ryght good goune. 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 198 Girt in my giltlesse gowne, as I sit here and sow. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 81 Quicke, quicke, wee'le come dresse you straight: put on the gowne the while. 1663 Pepys Diary 10 Nov., The Queene..hath bespoke herself a new gowne. 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 8 Sept., I have not yet been at Court, being forced to stay for my gown. 1750 H. Walpole Lett. H. Mann (1834) II. ccxiii. 330 Several women have made Earthquake gowns—that is warm gowns to sit out of doors all tonight. 1801 M. Edgeworth Angelina iii. (1832) 48 Betty Williams' heavy foot was set upon the train of Clara's gown. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 5 Women..With rosy children hanging on their gowns. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal III. viii. 162 There is no end to the variety of her gowns. |
c. fig.| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxiv. xvi, The winters frosty gowne. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 15/1 In gloomy gowns the stars this loss deplore. |
2. = dressing gown, nightgown.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 197 Come, thou shalt go to the Warres in a Gowne: we will haue away thy cold. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 216, I came down..in my gown and slippers. 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. lxxvii. ¶4 The nobility receiving company in their morning gowns. 1778 James Diss. Fevers (ed. 8) 40 On Saturday morning, about three o'clock, it was observed his breast had sweated through his shirt and gown. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 758 Dressing Jackets, Tea Jackets, and Gowns... Graceful Gown. In Nuns' Veiling, accordion pleated, trimmed white embroidery. 1969 E. McGirr Entry of Death iii. 51 She wears thick Viyella pyjamas... And her gown... Brushed nylon, a kind of housecoat really. |
3. Used as the name of the flowing outer garment worn by the ancients,
esp. the Roman toga. Hence after Roman usage: ‘The dress of peace’ (J.).
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 243 Virgil clepeþ the Romayns togati; þat beeþ men i-cloþed in gownes. Ibid. V. 293 He was i-cloþed in a consuls gowne [L. trabea]. 1612 Davies Why Ireland, etc. (1747) 129 After that the Roman attire grew to be in account, and the gowne to be in use among them. 1627 May Lucan ii. 409 His best attire rough gownes, such as of old Was Roman weare. 1658 Dryden Cromw. xx, He Mars deposed, and arms to gowns made yield. 1701 tr. Le Clerc's Prim. Fathers (1702) 287 The Rhetorical Exercises which Young Men applied themselves to, when they had put on the thorough White Gown—that is, at Seventeen or Eighteen Years of Age. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid i. 282 Lords of the world, thy Romans, the race of the glorious gown. |
4. A more or less flowing outer robe indicating the wearer's office, profession, or status:
a. as worn by the holder of a civil or legal or parliamentary office,
e.g. an alderman, a judge, magistrate; also
collect. the magistracy.
furred gown: that worn by an alderman.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 227 And fewe robes I fonge or furred gounes. 1486 Surtees Misc. (1888) 53 The Maire and Aldermen, cled in long gownys of skarlet. 1596 Spenser State Irel. 49 The person that is gowned, is by his gown put in minde of gravitie. 1622 Fletcher Beggars Bush ii. i, To the field we are not prest; Nor are called into the Towne, to be troubled with the Gowne! 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 193 Oh, had he been content to serve the Crown, With Virtues only proper to the Gown. 1785 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Wks. 1816 I. 80 Skinner in his aldermanic gown. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. v. iii, Robed in their gowns of state. 1842 Browning Pied Piper iii, And as for our Corporation—shocking To think we buy gowns lined with ermine For dolts that can't or won't determine [etc.]. 1886 Manch. Exam. 14 Jan. 5/6 Mr. Peel..wore a wig, but had not yet donned the flowing gown which is the distinguishing mark of his office [the Speakership]. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. (1889) I. xxii. 227 The justices [of the Supreme Court] wear black gowns. |
b. as distinctive of the legal or clerical profession. Hence, The profession itself, and
collect. the members of it.
† lawyer of both gowns: one versed in both common and ecclesiastical law.
| 1564 Brief Exam. ***** iij b, The Gowne that you..would so gladly minister in, seemeth to come eyther from Turkes or Papistes. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iv. ii. 1, I prethee put on this gown, and this beard, make him beleeue thou art Sir Topas the Curate. 1641 Bp. Lincoln Sp. 24 May in Cobbett Parl. Hist. (1807) II. 798 Calvin and Beza, whilst they lived, carried all the counsel of the state of Geneva under their own gowns. 1641 Sir E. Dering Sp. on Relig. 20 Nov. xiv. (1642) 63 Lawyers of both Gownes. 1649 Milton Eikon. xvi, How constantly the Preist puts on his Gown and Surplice, so constantly doth his praier put on a servile yoak of Liturgie. 1682 Dryden Medal 306 The Cut-throat Sword and clamorous Gown shall jar. 1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 101 It is a surprizing thing, the number of Employs for men of the Sword and the Gown, which his Majesty every day bestows. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 84. 1/2 The Gown was the Intention of your Studies. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 184 Children..pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile. 1784 J. Potter Virt. Villagers II. 135, I have now taken the gown [i.e. holy orders], agreeable to my good father's wishes. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 250 His gown was torn to shreds over his head: if he had a prayer book in his pocket it was burned. Mod. (N. Linc.) He goes as gain'and popery as he can wi'out hevin' his gown pulled off. |
| fig. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. iii. 99 It [honestie] will weare the Surplis of humilitie ouer the blacke-Gowne of a bigge heart. |
c. as the distinctive costume of a member of a University, varying in form, colour, etc., with the academical standing or degree of the wearer (as in
phr. † man of his gown).
cap and gown (see
cap 4 b).
| 1665 Needham Medela Medic. 253 It is not a Gown, or Degrees taken in Universities, which constitute the Physician. 1668 Maynwaring Compl. Physitian 169 By their pragmatick Insolencies and upbraiding men of the Gown. 1707 Guinnet in Hearne Collect. 23 Dec. (O.H.S.) II. 84 The Exercises, that are appointed Gentlemen of his Gown. 1748 Johnson Vanity Hum. Wishes 138 The strong contagion of the gown. 1764 Oxford Sausage 30 My Wife's Ambition and my own Was that this Child should wear a Gown. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 131 A scholar, in my cap and gown. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. iv. 72 The scholar's gown, now a robe of honour, was a badge of social inferiority. |
5. collect. sing. The resident members of a University. Now only without article and in opposition to
town.
| 1659 Wood Life (O.H.S.) I. 292 Challenging also the gowne it self to oppose what they did and said. 1764 Oxford Sausage 17 Ben Tyrrell, Cook of high Renown, To please the Palates of the Gown, At Three-pence each, makes Mutton-Pies. 1828 Sporting Mag. XXI. 428 Parties of five or six, both ‘gown’ and ‘town’, were parading abreast. 1854 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green ii. iii, When Gown was absent, Town was miserable. 1891 Pall Mall G. 30 May 4/3 ‘Town’ and ‘Gown’ joined in harmony. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
gown-piece,
gown-skirt,
gown-sleeve,
gown-tail;
gown-boy, a boy belonging to a scholastic foundation,
esp. to that of the Charterhouse;
† gown-cloth, a piece of material to make a gown;
† gown-crook, a hook on which gowns are hung;
gown-fashion adv., after the fashion of a gown;
† gown-rule, civilian government (in Rome);
† gown-sept, the clan or nation of the gown or toga (
= L.
gens togata).
| 1558 Thackeray Newcomes I. ii. 18, I have seen his name carved upon the *Gown Boys' arch. 1886 Sir. F. H. Doyle Remin. 29 A gown-boy at the Charterhouse. |
| c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 544 Thou shalt haue anon A *goune clooth. 1452 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 337 The said prouost shal yif to the said Robert..yerly duryng his lyf a gownecloth in sute with his gentilmen. 1549 in H. Hall Eliz. Age (1886) 191 A gowne clothe for George Darrell..xls. |
| 1573 Richmond. Wills (Surtees 1853) 235 To ye wyfe of Wiliam my son..a pare of *gowne krokes. |
| 1891 M. M. Dowie Girl in Karp. 13 Their coarse white linen dresses, made *gown-fashion in one piece. |
| 1821 Blackw. Mag. VIII. 616 The spangled *gown-piece, fancy-figured o'er. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 374 The gown-pieces were rolled loosely together. |
| 1627 May Lucan vii. 71 [Cicero] In whose *gown-rule fierce Catiline did feare The peacefull axes. |
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 27 Iuno..with mee newlye shal enter In leage with Romans, and *gownesept charelye tender. |
| 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 85 Holding her *gownskirt in her hand. 1894 ― Wood beyond World x. 59 She..hastily covered up her legs with her gown-skirt. |
| c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xix. 61 Vnto hym she gaffe one of her *gowne sleues. 1889 T. Hardy Mayor Casterbr. iv, A woman with her gown-sleeves rolled up. |
| 1772 Ann. Reg. 213 Her legs and hands tied, and her *gown tail muffled over her head. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xvii, I..canna climb up to that high window to see sae muckle as her gown-tail. |
Hence
† ˈgownist, one who is entitled to wear a gown;
ˈgownlet nonce-wd., a small gown.
| 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxvii. (1589) 120 Those inricht our Gownests. 1890 S. J. Duncan Social Departure 107 Cuddling her small person up..in her swathing gownlet. |
Sense 6 in
Dict. becomes 7. Add:
6. Any of various kinds of protective outer garment worn by the staff or patients of a hospital,
esp. (
a) one designed to reduce the risk of infection during surgery, or (
b) a loosely fitting, general-purpose garment (often
hospital gown).
| 1900 T. Cowardine Operative & Pract. Surg. vii. 186 The shirt-sleeves should be well tucked up..and covered by those of a clean sterilised gown or apron. 1919 [see scrub v.1 3 d]. 1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) iii. 72 Dr. Malloy would get into his gown and follow Dr. English to the operating-room. 1970 New Yorker 28 Feb. 44/1 He was lying in bed propped up on pillows, wearing a white hospital gown. 1990 J. Masson Final Analysis (1991) iii. 46 The patients who shuffled past us in the hallways wearing slippers and institutional gowns. |
▪ II. gown, v. (
gaʊn)
[f. gown n.] 1. trans. To dress in a gown.
| c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) v. 726 Here entrithe vj. Iorours in a sute gownyde with hoodes a-bowte her neckes. 1592 Warner Alb. Eng. vii. xxxvii. (1612) 186 Empson and Dudley, fur'd Esquiers, more harmefull being gown'd. 1609 Rowlands Whole Crew Gossips 22 Nay Ile be sworne it makes my purse-strings cracke, To ruffle her in her pride, and gowne her backe. 1700 Dryden Fables, Flower & Leaf 161 In velvet white as snow the troop was gown'd. 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 125 Gown'd in pure white..she stood. 1890 M. W. Hungerford Born Coquette I. viii. 73 Should she elect to gown herself in the latest Paris fashions. |
| transf. and fig. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 67 Th' yuorie in golden mantle gownd. 1633 P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. v. ii, The warmer sunne his bride hath newly gown'd. a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 206 The man who in Love's robe is gowned May say that Fortune smiles upon his lot. |
2. intr. for refl. To put on a gown.
| 1896 Durham Univ. Jrnl. XII. 81 One or two men in different parts of the Hall who had not gowned were politely requested to do so. |
Add:
[2.] b. Med. colloq. With
up: to put on a surgical gown,
esp. before taking part in an operation.
| 1986 P. D. James Taste for Death iii. 182 My staff recognize my work even if they don't actually see my face. But, of course, they did see it, before I gowned up. 1987 A. Puckett Bloodstains viii. 94 The lab through there is supposed to be sterile, so you have to gown up. |