dress
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɹes/
enpr: drĕs
ipa: /dɹɛs/
ipa: /dɹɪs/
rhymes: -ɛs
Forms: form: dresses
Etymology: PIE word
 *dwís
The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *directiare (“to guide, direct”). Doublet of direct.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: Amy and Mary looked very pretty in their dresses.
text: She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, “Dangerous Lady”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 36:
topics: business
clothing
fashion
lifestyle
manufacturing
textiles
glosses: An item of clothing (usually worn by a woman or young girl) which both covers the upper part of the body and includes a skirt below the waist.
examples: text: I have been thinking, George, of changing our travelling dreſſes in the morning. I am grown confoundedly aſhamed of mine.
ref: 1773, [Oliver] Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer: Or, The Mistakes of a Night. A Comedy. […], London: […] F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, Act II, page 23:
text: No good historical painting ever yet existed, or ever can exist, where the dresses of the people of the time are not beautiful: […]
ref: 1857, John Ruskin, “Lecture I”, in The Political Economy of Art: Being the Substance (with Additions) of Two Lectures Delivered at Manchester, July 10th and 13th, 1857, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, section II (Application), page 74:
glosses: An item of outer clothing or set of such clothes (worn by people of all sexes) which is generally decorative and appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc.
topics: broadcasting
entertainment
film
lifestyle
media
television
theater
glosses: Ellipsis of dress rehearsal.
examples: text: military dress
text: He came to the party in formal dress.
text: Till I ſhall ſee you in your Souldiers dreſſe, / Which will become you both: Farewell.
ref: c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], page 348, column 1:
text: [I]t is a kind of acting to go into masquerade, and a man should be able to say or do things proper for the dress in which he appears. We have now and then rakes in the habit of Roman senators, and grave politicians in the dress of rakes.
ref: 1711 March 27 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, March 16, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 14; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 151:
text: Your black silk frock will be quite dress enough, my dear, with that pretty little scarf, and a plain band in your hair, and a pair of black silk stock— […]
ref: 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Descriptive of a Dinner at Mr. Ralph Nickleby’s, and of the Manner in which the Company Entertained Themselves before Dinner, at Dinner, and after Dinner”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 172:
text: Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, “Justifiably Angry Young Man”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 82:
glosses: Apparel or clothing, especially when appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc.
glosses: The act of putting on clothes, especially fashionable ones, or for a particular (especially formal) occasion.
examples: text: When the adults [i.e., birds] of both sexes have a distinct winter and summer plumage, whether or not the male differs from the female, the young resemble the adults of both sexes in their winter dress or much more rarely in their summer dress, or they resemble the females alone; or the young may have an intermediate character; or again they may differ greatly from the adults in both their seasonal plumages.
ref: 1871, Charles Darwin, “Birds—concluded”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Part II (Sexual Selection), page 187:
glosses: The external covering of an animal (for example, the feathers of a bird) or an object.
glosses: The appearance of an object after it has undergone some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use; finish.
examples: text: Sir, although / VVe may be ſaid to vvant the guilt, and trappings, / The dreſſe of Honor; yet vve ſtriue to keepe, / The ſeedes, and the Materialls.
ref: 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i:
text: […] Eloquence, the Dreſs of our Thoughts, like the Dreſs of our Bodies, differs not only in ſeveral Regions, but in ſeveral Ages.
ref: 1663, Robert Boyle, Some Considerations Touching the Style of the H[oly] Scriptures. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, pages 163–164:
text: He has indeed reſcued it [i.e., learning] out of the hands of Pedants and Fools, and diſcover'd the true method of making it amiable and lovely to all mankind: In the dreſs he gives it, 'tis a moſt welcome gueſt at Tea-tables and Aſſemblies, and is reliſh'd and careſſed by the Merchants on the Change; […]
ref: 1711 May 14 (Gregorian calendar), J[ohn] G[ay], The Present State of Wit, in a Letter to a Friend in the Country, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 14:
glosses: The external appearance of something, especially if intended to give a positive impression; garb, guise.
glosses: The system of furrows on the face of a millstone.
glosses: The act of applying a dressing to or otherwise treating a wound; also, the dressing so applied.
Derived terms: Aboyne dress
baby-doll dress
balldress
bandage dress
battledress
bedressed
Bo Peep dress
carriage dress
coatdress
cocktail dress
dinner dress
dress circle
dress clothes
dresscoat
dress coat
dress code
dress fan
dress form
dressful
Dressgate
dress-goods
dressish
dressless
dresslike
dressmaker
dressmaking
dress-out
dress pants
dress rehearsal
dress sense
dress shield
dress shirt
dress shoe
dress shorts
dress suit
dress tape
dresswear
dressy
e-dress
evening dress
fancy dress
fiesta dress
full dress
gala dress
going away dress
granny dress
hairdress
headdress
housedress
little black dress
Little Bo Peep dress
macaroni dress
magazine dress
maternity dress
mess dress
microdress
mididress
minidress
mini-dress
morning dress
nap dress
national dress
nightdress
off like a prom dress
party dress
patio dress
peekaboo dress
plain dress
princess dress
princesse dress
rational dress
riding dress
sack dress
sheath dress
shift dress
shirtdress
sidedress
skater dress
slip dress
slipdress
spaghetti dress
squaw dress
sundress
sweater-dress
sweater dress
tea dress
tear dress
tennis dress
top-dress
trade dress
trapeze dress
travelling dress
trench dress
T-shirt dress
underdress
wedding dress
wiggle dress
window-dress
winter-dress
wrap dress
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