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kirtle

 - 3 dictionary results

kir⋅tle

  [kur-tl]
Use kirtle in a Sentence
–noun
1. a woman's loose gown, worn in the Middle Ages.
2. Obsolete. a man's tunic.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME kirtel, OE cyrtel, appar. equiv. to cyrt(an) to shorten (≪ L curtus shortened) + -el -le

Related forms:
kirtled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To kirtle
kir·tle   (kûr'tl)   
n.   Archaic

  1. A man's knee-length tunic or coat.

  2. A woman's dress or skirt.


[Middle English kirtel, from Old English cyrtel, probably ultimately from Latin curtus, short; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

kirtle 
"a man's tunic; a woman's skirt," O.E. cyrtel, related to O.N. kyrtill "tunic," probably both from L. curtus "short" + dim. suffix -el.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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