wardrobe English · revision 39586

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1325, St. Hilary}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈwɔːdɹəʊb/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈwɔɹdɹoʊb/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|warderobe]],^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) [[bor|xno|warderobe]], the Anglo-Norman and Old Northern French form of [[m|fro|garderobe|t=dressing room, place where clothes are kept]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline) a compound of [[m|fro|warder|t=to keep, guard]] and [[m|fro|robe|t=garment]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The first element is related to [[ward]] and [[guard]], and the second is the source of [[robe]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Ayto 2005)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster notes that both are of Germanic origin: the verb is akin to [[goh|wartēn|t=to watch, take care]], and the noun first meant booty, akin to [[m|goh|roub|t=booty]].^(MWU 2024) The central French form, recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1210, was also used in Middle English from 1333–34 and survives as the historical term [[garderobe]].^(AND)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OED's earliest sense, a privy, is found a1325 in a life of St Hilary.^(OED 2026) The sense "private chamber, especially a bedroom" appears in ''Cursor Mundi'' (copy of a1400 of a text of about 1325), which Barnhart dates about 1325 and Etymonline about 1300.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The room in which clothes, and sometimes armour and other valuables, were kept is recorded from 1387 by Barnhart, the early 14th century by Etymonline and c. 1440 by the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) From 1424 ''the Wardrobe'' was the department of the royal household that supplied clothing, armour and furnishings.^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) A person's stock of clothes is dated before 1400 by Barnhart, about 1400 by Etymonline and 1462 (the Paston inventories) by the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) As a piece of furniture the word is recorded from 1794, in Hepplewhite's ''Cabinet-Maker'', according to Barnhart and Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and Ayto says the room did not shrink to a cupboard until the 18th century;^(Ayto 2005) the revised OED, however, finds a cupboard for clothes in the ''Promptorium Parvulorum'' of 1440.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) still defined it as "a room where cloaths are kept".^(Johnson 1755) The theatre took the word for its costumes (1666, Pepys), the room where they are kept (1711, Addison) and, from 1907, the costume department.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) A figurative sense, a store of things ready for use, dates from 1532, and sailors speak of a yacht's ''wardrobe'' of sails from 1914.^(OED 2026) The euphemism ''wardrobe malfunction'' is attested from 2004.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1325 – a privy (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * about 1325 – a private chamber, a bedroom;^(Barnhart 1988) c. 1300 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1387 – a room where clothes are kept;^(Barnhart 1988) c. 1440 in the OED.^(OED 2026)

+ * before 1400 – a person's stock of clothes;^(Barnhart 1988) 1462 in the OED.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1424 – the royal Wardrobe, a department of the household.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1440 – a cupboard for clothes;^(OED 2026) 1794 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1532 – figurative, a store or collection.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1666 – the costumes of a theatre.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1711 – a theatre's costume room.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1907 – a costume department.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1914 – the sails carried on a yacht.^(OED 2026)

+ * 2004 – ''wardrobe malfunction''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tall [[cupboard]] or [[closet]] with a rail or hooks on which clothes are hung.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # The whole collection of [[clothes]] that a person owns: ''She needs a new wardrobe for her job in Oslo.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # The [[costume]]s of a theatre company or production; also the department that looks after them.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (historical) The department of a royal or noble household in charge of clothing, armour and the like.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (sailing) The set of sails carried on a boat.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chifforobe]]

+ * [[wardrobe mistress]]

+ * [[wardrobe trunk]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[garderobe]]

+ * [[ward]]

+ * [[guard]]

+ * [[robe]]

+ * [[warden]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}