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Geneva gown

American  

noun

  1. a loose, large-sleeved, black preaching gown worn by members of the Protestant clergy: so named from its use by the Calvinist clergy of Geneva, Switzerland.


Geneva gown British  

noun

  1. a long loose black gown with very wide sleeves worn by academics or Protestant clerics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Geneva gown

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

If the surplice was generally worn during the service, the preacher often mounted the pulpit in a Geneva gown.

From History of the English People, Volume V Puritan England, 1603-1660 by Green, John Richard

The old Geneva gown covered with frogs is hardly ever seen; but the surplice would still stir up a revolution.

From The Recreations of a Country Parson by Boyd, Andrew Kennedy Hutchison

It was a monarchy under the Geneva gown.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 378, April, 1847 by Various

He was in Geneva gown, and bands—such as they were.

From Patsy by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)

So with the directions as to vestments—whether they are the Eucharistic vestments, ordered by the "Ornaments Rubric," or the preacher's Geneva gown not ordered anywhere.

From The Church: Her Books and Her Sacraments by Holmes, E. E.

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