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vestimentary

vestimentary

9.3
About clothing and how people dress
  • adjective
  • /ˌvɛstəˈmɛnˌtɛri/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vestimentario
  • In his lecture on fashion history, the professor discussed the vestimentary practices of ancient cultures.

Examples

  • When, a little later, my mother forbade me to appear at the screen door in pajamas when John Hall from next door came around early in the morning, I discovered that the vestimentary code had not only social implications but others that I subsequently identified as sexual.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Invoking the vestimentary code as constituting a sign of the female, critics scorned the crinoline as a physical encroachment that analogized the social situation.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The juxtaposition of these figural and literal uses of vestimentary terms reveals an ambivalence about language's representational capacities even as it seems to be affirming them.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The museum exhibit highlighted the vestimentary traditions of various ethnic groups throughout history.

  • Understanding the vestimentary norms of a society can provide insights into its cultural values and beliefs.

Synonyms

sartorial
vsvestimentary
  • Formal
5 7.9

Relating to clothes and the way people dress

is used mainly in technical or academic discussions about clothing
vestiary
vsvestimentary
  • Archaic
9.9

Relating to clothes used in ceremonies, especially religious robes

is broader, applying to clothing in many contexts beyond ceremonies
vestmental
vsvestimentary
9.9

Clothing like the special robes religious leaders wear in ceremonies

is a general academic term for clothing rather than only robe-like items

Surface Forms

vestimentary positive

Morphology

vestimentary = vestment (transparent) = vest + ment + ary

Formed by adding the adjective-forming suffix '-ary' to 'vestment', yielding a word meaning 'relating to garments'; the relation to clothing is direct.

Etymology

The word vestimentary comes from the Latin vestimentum meaning 'garment' and from vestire meaning 'to clothe'. Think of the common words vest or vestment — both are about clothes — so vestimentary means 'relating to clothing or dress'.