morning dress
- noun
- UK
:
traje de mañana
- He wore a traditional morning dress to the royal wedding.
Examples
-
The invitation specified that all male guests should appear in morning dress.
-
During the ceremony, the groom looked distinguished in his morning dress.
-
He wore a classic morning dress to the wedding.
-
Are you going to wear your morning dress tomorrow?
-
The invitation specified that all male guests should appear in morning dress.
-
He wore a traditional morning dress to the royal wedding.
-
During the ceremony, the groom looked distinguished in his morning dress.
How Formal
- UK
16
1.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositionally derived from 'morning' (time of day) + 'dress' (clothing), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer it refers to clothing worn in the morning. This noun+noun construction is a common, literal pattern across languages and therefore highly transparent despite occasional register-specific or historical senses.
Etymology
Morning dress comes from the idea of a special morning outfit men wore for important 'daytime' events like weddings; it often included a tailcoat, waistcoat, and striped trousers. So the name now means the formal clothes men wear during the day.