clothe, v.
(kləʊð)
Pa. tense and pple. clothed (kləʊðd), clad (klæd). Forms: α. 1 cláðian, 2–4 claþe-n, 3 cloðe-n, (cloþi), 3–4 cloþe-n, 4 clooþe, (clode), 5–8 cloth, (6 clote), 6–9 cloath, -e, 4– clothe. Also north. 3–5 clath(e, 6–9 Sc. claith, claeth. pa. tense and pple. 3– clothed, (north. clathed, etc.). β. (1 clǽðan); pa. tense 4–5 cladde, 3– clad; pa. pple. 4– clad, 4–6 cladd-e, 5–6 clade, 6 ycladd, 6–9 yclad, (7 clod). Forms with e, see clead.
[There are two types of this verb, both rare in OE.: α. OE. cláðian, of which the pa. pple. ᵹecláded for ᵹeclaðed, -od occurs. Hence ME. clāthe, clothe (the former retained in north dial.), inflected clathed, clothed. β. OE. clǽðan, with pa. tense clǽðde, *clædde, whence ME. cladde, clad, and prob. the northern type clethe, cledde, cled (formerly referred to Norse klæða): see clead. The former belongs to a type *klaiþôjan, the latter to *klaiþjan, both f. *klaiþo{supm} (or ? klaiþoz-) a cloth. Cf. MHG. and mod.G. kleiden, LG., Du. kleeden, EFris. klêden. ON. had klæða, going with the ON. form of the n. klæði.
Both forms of the pa. tense and pple. have come down to modern use. Clod, occas. found in 16–17th c. was either a late shortening of cloth'd, cloath'd, or a mixture of these with clad. The form yclad, very rare in ME., was revived by the Elizabethan archaists, after whom it has become a ‘Spenserian’ form in later poets.]
1. a. trans. To cover with a garment or with clothing; to provide with clothing; to dress.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark v. 15 Sittende ᵹecladed & hales ðohtes. Ibid. Matt. xxv. 36. Nacod and ᵹie clæðdon vel wriᵹon meh. c 1200 Ormin 2710 To fedenn hemm & claþenn. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2120 Ioseph was..shauen, & clad, & to him broȝt. Ibid. 2630 And fedde it wel and cloðen dede. a 1300 Cursor M. 20312 Wel fed & cladd. Ibid. 20121 (Brit. Mus. Add. MS.) App. ii, Naked & hungry sche cloþed & fedde. c 1400 Destr. Troy 774 Þai cladde hom clenly. 1508 Fisher Wks. 259 Commaunded also his seruauntes to cloth hym newe. 1632 Quarles Div. Fancies iv. ciii. (1660) 173 Zelustus wears his cloaths, as he were clod To frighten Crowns, and not to serve his God. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 219 And thought not much to cloath his Enemies. 1777 W. Dalrymple Trav. Sp. & Port. xxvi, To cloathe all the troops. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 699 The hand that..often toil'd to clothe your little ones. |
b. Constr. with, in.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 3675 (Trin.) She..clad him wiþ þo cloþes mete. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 341 Thoo spake this lady clothed al in grene. 1530 Palsgr. 488/1, I clothe me in sylke. 1611 Bible Prov. xxiii. 21 Drousinesse shall cloath a man with ragges. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 216 He clad Thir nakedness with Skins of Beasts. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos I. xli. 356 His keepers clad him in mean..garments. |
c. refl.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 53 Heo..claþeð heom mid ᵹeoluwe claþe. c 1300 Havelok 1354 Sone it was day, sone he him cladde. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 7 Up he rose, and clad him hastily. a 1626 Bacon New Atl. 14 To cloath themselves with the skins of Tigers, Bears. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 111 He clad himself with the slave's clothes. |
d. To invest with a religious habit: cf. clothing vbl. n. 1 c.
| 1628 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1905) I. 98 She was cloathed in the new monastery at Gand the 25 of November 1626. a 1700 Ibid. VIII. 11 M{supi}{sups} Elizabeth Poulton was cloathed with her for a lay sister. |
2. intr. (for refl.) To clothe oneself or be clothed.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 14 The tresor..Wherof the pouer shulden clothe And ete and drinke and house bothe. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 266 Care no more to cloath and eate. 1853 Landor Works I. 446 They lie among coral, and clothe in feathers, or are in buff. Ibid. II. 141 He ordered men to take no thought of what they put on, and, indeed, not to clothe at all. |
† 3. trans. To put on as clothing, to don. Obs.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter cviii. 18 And malloc [cursing] he cled als wede. 1382 Wyclif Ibid., He cladde cursing as clothing. 1388 Ibid., He clothide cursing as a cloth. c 1400 J. Arderne in Rel. Ant. I. 191 He did of al his knyghtly clothings, and cladde mournyng clothes. |
4. By extension: To cover or fit out with armour, ornaments, or other things worn on the body.
| 1382 Wyclif Ex. xxxiii. 4 And noon was clothid with his ournyng bi custom. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 11 In mighty armes he was yclad anon, And silver shield. 1611 Bible Ezek. xxxviii. 4 All thine armie, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 88 Their naked armes are only clothed with Bracelets of silver and yvory. |
5. a. To cover (anything) with a cloth or cloths.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 885 Sone watz telded vp a tapit, on trestez ful fayre, Clad wyth a clene cloþe, þat cler quyt schewed. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 252 A fether bed..right wel cled In fyne blacke Sattyn doutremere. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 106 Þe marchall..euell coude his Craft, whan he cloþed þe stede. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. i. v. (1668) 39 To cloath a horse right. 1703 Pope Thebais 607 Embroider'd purple clothes the golden beds. |
b. Naut. To rig (a ship, mast, etc.).
| 1714 Lond. Gaz. No. 5235/4 British Sail Cloth..the Royal Navy hath been wholly Clothed with the same, for many Years. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 18 What is meant by clothing the yards? Fitting them with rigging at the yard arms, and slings, etc. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 46 How is a bowsprit clothed? |
6. a. transf. To cover as with clothing, or as clothing does.
| 1382 Wyclif Job x. 11 With fel and flesh thou hast clad me. ― Isa. I. 3, I shal clothin heuenes with dercnesses. ― Matt. vi. 30 For ȝif God clothith thus the heye of the feeld. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1639 Toures..þat were of heght so hoge..þat the clowdes hom clede in vnclene ayre. 1647 Cowley Mistress, Clad all in White i. (1669) 13 Thou wilt seem much whiter so, Than Winter when 'tis clad with snow. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. 218 Cover them [the plants] with Glasses, having cloathed them with sweet and dry Moss. 1718 J. Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. (1730) II. xviii. §37 Take a lighted Pipe of Tobacco..cloathing it with Paper if it be too hot. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola i. v, That portion of the city which clothes the southern bank of the river. |
b. Said of vegetation or the like as it covers and furnishes the face of the earth.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 129 Now hath thatempre sonne..clad yt new again. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xvi. (1495) 323 The sonne clotheth and renewyth thouer parte of therth wyth herbes twygges and floures. 1611 Bible Ps. lxv. 13 The pastures are cloathed with flockes. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. iii. i, Who clothes the senseless Earth, With Woods, with Fruits, with Flow'rs and verdant Grass. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 156 The land..is well clothed with timber. 1832 H. Martineau Demerara i. 2 Coffee plantations clothe the sides of the hills. |
c. Leaves and blossoms are said to clothe trees and plants.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 82 The Trees are cloath'd with Leaves. 1808 Scott Marm. i. Introd. 44 Will spring return..And blossoms clothe the hawthorn spray? 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 89 Delaying as the tender ash delays To clothe herself, when all the woods are green. |
7. fig. a. With immediate reference to the literal sense.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 802 (Cott.) Quen þai sagh ham self al bare, Þat welth and blis had cleþed ar [Gött. In welth and bliss was clad are]. c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 15 A saule þat..es clede in vertus. 1382 Wyclif Isa. lix. 17 He is clad with riȝtwisnesse as with an habirioun. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cviii. [cix.] 18 He clothed him self with cursynge like as with a rayment. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. xi, Thus he [Man] is also said to be clothed with a Body. |
b. To invest or endue with attributes, qualities, or a character.
| 1611 Bible Job xxxix. 19 Hast thou clothed his necke with thunder? 1621 W. Sclater Tythes (1623) 88 Cloathed with cœremoniousnesse by the High Priest of our Profession. 1682 Bunyan Holy War Pref., With such gravity cloath every page. 1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. i. (1862) 10 So long as men are clothed with human infirmities. 1866 Bryant Death Slavery ii, A glory clothes the land from sea to sea. 1880 T. A. Spalding Eliz. Demonol. 39 Spenser has clothed with horror this conception. |
c. To endow with power, privilege, or liability; also in Sc. Law, with a husband.
| 1754 Erskine Princ. Sc. Law (1809) 13 The judicial ratifications of women clothed with husbands. 1788 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 493 The clauses..clothing consuls with privileges of the law of nations. 1789 Bentham Princ. Legisl. xiii. §1 Cases in which the individual is clothed with great powers. 1827 J. Powell Devises (ed. 3) II. 161 That another estate should be cloathed with the same trusts. 1847 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes Scotl. (1858) 221 He was clothed wi' a wife and a wean forbye. |
8. a. fig. With reference to putting on or assuming a form or appearance: in early use sometimes ‘to cloak’ under or with an assumed form; in later to represent or embody in a particular form.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 62 He [an ypocrite] clotheth richesse as men saine Vnder the simplest of pouerte. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 336 And thus I cloath my naked villanie With odde old ends, stolne forth of holy Writ. 1604 ― Oth. iii. iv. 120 So shall I cloath me in a forc'd content. 1646 J. Saltmarsh Reasons for Vnitie in Some Drops 128 Though you have cloathed your selfe in their Apologeticall Narration, yet I must deale with you as your self. 1869 Trollope He Knew xlviii. (1878) 270 [He] struggled hard, but vainly, to clothe his face in a pleasant smile. |
b. To put (thoughts or ideas) into words; to express in (or with).
| 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 65 Some troubl'd thoughts which she in sighs thus clad. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. Pref., Mr. Willughby's voyage which he himself would doubtless have cloathed with better language. 1741 Watts Improv. Mind (1801) 212 Clothe those ideas with words. 1771 Junius Lett. lxi. 316 Clothe it in what language you will. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Dyer Wks. IV. 212 Cloathing small images in great words. 1850 H. Rogers Ess. I. iii. 102 He has clothed the determinate quantities of arithmetic in the universal symbols of algebra. |
9. clothe upon or on. In N.T. a literalism of translation: ? to put on over other clothes; but cf. Ger. ankleiden and late L. superinduĕre to put on. arch.
| 1611 Bible 2 Cor. v. 2 Desiring to be clothed vpon [ἐπενδύσασθαι, superindui: Wyclif clothed above, Rhem. over-clothed, 16th c. vv. clothed] with our house, which is from heauen. 1842 Tennyson Godiva, Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity. |