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apparel - 6 dictionary results

ap⋅par⋅el

[uh-par-uhl] noun, verb, -eled, -el⋅ing or (especially British) -elled, -el⋅ling.
–noun
1. clothing, esp. outerwear; garments; attire; raiment.
2. anything that decorates or covers.
3. superficial appearance; aspect; guise.
4. Nautical. the masts, sails, anchor, etc., used to equip a vessel.
5. Ecclesiastical. a piece of embroidery, usually oblong, on certain vestments, esp. on the alb or amice.
–verb (used with object)
6. to dress or clothe.
7. to adorn; ornament.
8. Nautical. to equip (a vessel) with apparel.

Origin:
1200–50; ME appareillen < OF apareillier to make fit, fit out < VL *appariculāre, equiv. to ap- ap- 1 + *paricul(us) a fit (see par, -cule 1 ) + -ā- thematic vowel + -re inf. suffix


1. clothes, dress, garb, costume, habiliments, vesture. 6. outfit, array, deck out.
ap·par·el   (ə-pār'əl)   
n.  
  1. Clothing, especially outer garments; attire.
  2. A covering or adornment: trees with their apparel of foliage.
tr.v.   ap·par·eled or ap·par·elled, ap·par·el·ing or ap·par·el·ling, ap·par·els
  1. To clothe or dress.
  2. To adorn or embellish.

[Middle English appareil, from Old French apareil, preparation, from apareillier, to prepare, possibly from Vulgar Latin *appariculāre, from Latin apparāre; see apparatus.]

Apparel

Ap*par"el\, n. [OE. apparel, apareil, OF. apareil, appareil, preparation, provision, furniture, OF. apareiller to match, prepare, F. appareiller; OF. a (L. ad) + pareil like, similar, fr. LL. pariculus, dim. of L. par equal. See Pair.]

1. External clothing; vesture; garments; dress; garb; external habiliments or array.

Fresh in his new apparel, proud and young. --Denham.

At public devotion his resigned carriage made religion appear in the natural apparel of simplicity. --Tatler.

2. A small ornamental piece of embroidery worn on albs and some other ecclesiastical vestments.

3. (Naut.) The furniture of a ship, as masts, sails, rigging, anchors, guns, etc.

Syn: Dress; clothing; vesture; garments; raiment; garb; costume; attire; habiliments.

Apparel

Ap*par"el\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Appareled, or Apparelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Appareling, or Apparelling.] [OF. apareiller.]

1. To make or get (something) ready; to prepare. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

2. To furnish with apparatus; to equip; to fit out.

Ships . . . appareled to fight. --Hayward.

3. To dress or clothe; to attire.

They which are gorgeously appareled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. --Luke vii. 25.

4. To dress with external ornaments; to cover with something ornamental; to deck; to embellish; as, trees appareled with flowers, or a garden with verdure.

Appareled in celestial light. --Wordsworth.

apparel 
c.1250, "to equip (in any way)," from O.Fr. apareillier, from V.L. *appariculare, from L. apparare "prepare, make ready" (see apparatus), or from V.L. *ad-particulare "to put things together." The meaning "to attire in proper clothing" is from 1362; noun sense of "personal outfit or attire" is from 1330.

Apparel

In Old Testament times the distinction between male and female attire was not very marked. The statute forbidding men to wear female apparel (Deut. 22:5) referred especially to ornaments and head-dresses. Both men and women wore (1) an under garment or tunic, which was bound by a girdle. One who had only this tunic on was spoken of as "naked" (1 Sam. 19:24; Job 24:10; Isa. 20:2). Those in high stations sometimes wore two tunics, the outer being called the "upper garment" (1 Sam. 15:27; 18:4; 24:5; Job 1:20). (2.) They wore in common an over-garment ("mantle," Isa. 3:22; 1 Kings 19:13; 2 Kings 2:13), a loose and flowing robe. The folds of this upper garment could be formed into a lap (Ruth 3:15; Ps. 79:12; Prov. 17:23; Luke 6:38). Generals of armies usually wore scarlet robes (Judg. 8:26; Nah. 2:3). A form of conspicuous raiment is mentioned in Luke 20:46; comp. Matt. 23:5. Priests alone wore trousers. Both men and women wore turbans. Kings and nobles usually had a store of costly garments for festive occasions (Isa. 3:22; Zech. 3:4) and for presents (Gen. 45:22; Esther 4:4; 6:8, 11; 1 Sam. 18:4; 2 Kings 5:5; 10:22). Prophets and ascetics wore coarse garments (Isa. 20:2; Zech. 13:4; Matt. 3:4).

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