gown

gown (ɡaʊn)

—n
1.	any of various outer garments, such as a woman's elegant or formal dress, a dressing robe, or a protective garment, esp one worn by surgeons during operations
2.	a loose wide garment indicating status, such as worn by academics
3.	Compare town the members of a university as opposed to the other residents of the university town

—vb
4.	(tr) to supply with or dress in a gown

[C14: from Old French goune, from Late Latin gunna garment made of leather or fur, of Celtic origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

gown

c.1300, from O.Fr. goune, from L.L. gunna "leather garment, skin, hide," of unknown origin. Used by St. Boniface (8c.) for a fur garment permitted for old or infirm monks. Klein writes it is probably "a word adopted from a language of the Apennine or the Balkan Peninsula." OED points to Byzantine Gk.

gouna, a word for a coarse garment sometimes made of skins. In 18c., gown was the common word for what is now usually styled a dress. It was maintained more in Amer.Eng. than in Britain, but was somewhat revived 20c. in fashion senses and in comb. forms (e.g. bridal gown, nightgown). Meaning "flowing robe worn as a badge of office or authority" is from late 14c., on image of the Roman toga. As collective singular for "residents of a university" (1650s) it is now usually opposed to town.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

gown (goun)
n.
A robe or smock worn in operating rooms and other parts of hospitals as a guard against contamination.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

gown

see cap and gown; town and gown.