apparel

American  

[uh-par-uhl] / əˈpær əl /

noun

1. clothing, especially outerwear; garments; attire; raiment.

   Synonyms:

   vesture, costume, garb, dress, clothes

2. anything that decorates or covers.

3. superficial appearance; aspect; guise.

4. Nautical. the masts, sails, anchor, etc., used to equip a vessel.

5. Ecclesiastical. a piece of embroidery, usually oblong, on certain vestments, especially on the alb or amice.

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verb (used with object)

appareled, appareling, apparelled, apparelling

1. to dress or clothe.

   Synonyms:

   array, outfit

2. to adorn; ornament.

3. Nautical. to equip (a vessel) with apparel.

apparel British  

/ əˈpærəl /

noun

1. something that covers or adorns, esp outer garments or clothing

2. nautical a vessel's gear and equipment

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verb

1. archaic (tr) to clothe, adorn, etc

Other Word Forms

• overappareled adjective
• unappareled adjective
• well-appareled adjective
• well-apparelled adjective

Etymology

Origin of apparel

1200–50; Middle English appareillen < Old French apareillier to make fit, fit out < Vulgar Latin *appariculāre, equivalent to ap- ap- ¹ + *paricul ( us ) a fit ( par ¹ -cule ¹ ) + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix

Example Sentences

In a letter to shareholders on Friday, the former chairman of the Vancouver, British Columbia-based athletic apparel company and its largest shareholder said that months of private outreach have gone nowhere.

From The Wall Street Journal

Hollywood, which hasn’t historically been home to apparel companies, is now attracting the offices of fashion retailers, says CIM Group, one of the neighborhood’s largest commercial property landlords.

From Los Angeles Times

It buys about half of its apparel at cost from the Urban Outfitters brand, Anthropologie and Free People operations, saving money compared with buying inventory wholesale.

From The Wall Street Journal

The job of refining techniques of riding and roping — while modifying gear and apparel — largely fell to the resourceful vaqueros, from the Spanish word vaca for cow.

From Los Angeles Times

She said discussion in class one day centered on university rules around apparel deals.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• dress
• equipment
• garment
• gear