Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Synonyms
Nearby Entries

habiliment

- 4 dictionary results

ha⋅bil⋅i⋅ment

  [huh-bil-uh-muhnt]
Use habiliment in a Sentence
–noun
1. Usually, habiliments.
a. clothes or clothing.
b. clothes as worn in a particular profession, way of life, etc.
2. habiliments, accouterments or trappings.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME (h)abylement < MF habillement, equiv. to habill(er), abill(ier) to trim a log, hence, dress, prepare (< VL *adbiliare; see a- 5 , billet 2 ) + -ment -ment

Related forms:
ha⋅bil⋅i⋅men⋅tal  [huh-bil-uh-men-tl] , ha⋅bil⋅i⋅men⋅ta⋅ry, adjective
ha⋅bil⋅i⋅ment⋅ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To habiliment
ha·bil·i·ment   (hə-bĭl'ə-mənt)   
n.  
    1. The special dress or garb associated with an occasion or office. Often used in the plural: "shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave" (Edgar Allan Poe).
    2. Clothes.
  2. habiliments Characteristic furnishings or equipment; trappings: surrounded by the habiliments of the television news industry.

[Middle English habilement, from Old French habillement, from habiller, to clothe, alteration (influenced by habit, clothing) of abiller, to prepare, strip a tree of its branches : a-, toward (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + bille, log; see billet2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Habiliment

Ha*bil"i*ment\, n. [F. habillement, fr. habiller to dress, clothe, orig., to make fit, make ready, fr. habile apt, skillful, L. habilis. See Habile.]

1. A garment; an article of clothing. --Camden.

2. pl. Dress, in general. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

habiliment 
1422, "munitions, weapons," from M.Fr. habillement, from abiller "prepare or fit out," probably from habile "fit, suitable" (see able). Alternate etymology makes the M.Fr. verb originally mean "reduce a tree by stripping off the branches," from a- "to" + bille "stick of wood." Sense of "clothing, dress" developed 1470, by association with habit (q.v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see habiliment on Thesaurus | Reference