gown English · revision 39833

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=la-lat gunna}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɡaʊ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈɡæʊ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|goune]], [[bor|fro|goune|t=robe, coat; nun's habit]], also [[m|fro|gone]] and [[m|fro|gonne]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|la-lat|gunna|t=a fur or leather garment]].^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Dictionary.com 2016) The word is shared by the Romance languages, as [[m|it|gonna]], [[m|pro|gona]] and [[m|osp|gona]].^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) St Boniface used ''gunna'' in the 8th century for a fur garment allowed to old or sick monks.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Its ultimate origin is unknown.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Weekley 1921) The OED, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English compare [[gkm|γοῦνα|tr=goûna|t=a fur or fur-lined garment]], a common name for a coarse garment sometimes made of skins;^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) Klein thinks the word was probably taken from a language of the Italian or Balkan peninsula,^(Klein 1966) and Partridge suggests a Gaulish origin.^(Partridge 1966) Some scholars have compared [[cy|gŵn]] and called the word Celtic, but the OED notes that the Welsh word, like [[m|ga|gúna]] and [[m|gd|gùn]], is probably itself taken from English.^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966) The Anglo-Norman form [[m|xno|gune]] is recorded from the late 12th century for a tunic, a seaman's smock or a nun's habit.^(AND)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A long, loose outer garment: Etymonline dates the word to about 1300,^(Etymonline) and Barnhart's first example, probably from before 1325, is ''gune'' for an official's robe.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Barnhart 1988) The OED's first quotation is from Langland's ''Piers Plowman'' (1377), for the robe of a civic officer.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English the gown was worn by both men and women as ordinary dress,^(OED 2026) and the robe that marked an office, such as an alderman's or a judge's, is recorded from the late 14th century.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) It was used for the Roman toga from 1387, in Trevisa, and Johnson called it "the dress of peace".^(OED 2026)^(Johnson 1755) The legal and clerical gown, and the profession that wore it, appear from 1564, and the academic gown from 1665;^(OED 2026) from the 1650s ''gown'' stood for the members of a university, usually set against ''town''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) In the 18th century ''gown'' was the usual word for what is now called a dress, a use kept longer in the United States than in Britain and partly revived in the 20th century in fashion and in compounds such as ''nightgown'' and ''bridal gown''.^(Etymonline) The protective gown of hospital staff and patients is recorded from 1900.^(OED 2026) The verb, to dress in a gown, dates from about 1485,^(OED 2026) 1422 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) In Scots, ''gown-alane'' meant wearing only indoor clothes, without a cloak.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – a long, loose outer garment.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1377 – the robe of a civic officer.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1387 – the Roman toga.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1397 – a woman's gown.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1485 – verb, to dress in a gown.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1564 – the gown of the legal and clerical professions.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1600 – a dressing gown or nightgown.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1659 – the members of a university, as opposed to the town.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1665 – the academic gown.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1900 – a protective hospital gown.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long [[dress]], especially an elegant one worn on a formal occasion: ''She wore a silk evening gown to the reception.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A loose, flowing outer [[robe]] worn as a sign of office or status, as by judges, clergy and members of a [[university]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A loose garment worn by [[surgeon|alt=surgeons]] or hospital patients.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A [[dressing gown]] or [[nightgown]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The members of a university, as opposed to the other people of the town: ''town and gown''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To dress in a gown; often in the passive: ''The graduates were gowned and ready.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gownsman]]

+ * [[nightgown]]

+ * [[ungowned]]

+ * [[cap and gown]]

+ * [[dressing gown]]

+ * [[evening gown]]

+ * [[Geneva gown]]

+ * [[tea gown]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[robe]]

+ * [[frock]]

+ * [[toga]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}