Word: dress Part of Speech: noun 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 *dīrēctiāre (“to guide, direct”), from Classical Latin dīrēctus, whence English direct. Further akin to Latin regō. The noun is derived from the verb. Compare typologically adorn (<< Latin ōrnō < ōrdō, whence also ōrdinō, English order, ornament); Russian наряжа́ть (narjažátʹ), наря́д (narjád) (akin to ряд (rjad), поря́док (porjádok)). Pronunciation: /dɹes/, /dɹɛs/, /dɹɪs/, /dɾɛs/ 1. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Amy and Mary looked very pretty in their dresses. Example: She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet. 2. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: I have been thinking, George, of changing our travelling dreſſes in the morning. I am grown confoundedly aſhamed of mine. Example: No good historical painting ever yet existed, or ever can exist, where the dresses of the people of the time are not beautiful: […] 3. 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. Labels: India, broadly, countable, uncountable Example: He wore a bright orange dress to the office yesterday. 4. Ellipsis of dress rehearsal. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable 5. Apparel or clothing, especially when appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: military dress Example: He came to the party in formal dress. 6. The act of putting on clothes, especially fashionable ones, or for a particular (especially formal) occasion. Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable 7. The external covering of an animal (for example, the feathers of a bird) or an object. Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable Example: 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. 8. The appearance of an object after it has undergone some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use; finish. Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable 9. The external appearance of something, especially if intended to give a positive impression; garb, guise. Labels: broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: 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. Example: […] Eloquence, the Dreſs of our Thoughts, like the Dreſs of our Bodies, differs not only in ſeveral Regions, but in ſeveral Ages. 10. The system of furrows on the face of a millstone. Labels: archaic, broadly, countable, historical, uncountable 11. The act of applying a dressing to or otherwise treating a wound; also, the dressing so applied. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable