Geneva bands

plural noun

1. two bands or pendent stripes made usually of white lawn and worn at the throat as part of clerical garb, originally by the Swiss Calvinist clergy.

Geneva bands

plural noun

1. a pair of white lawn or linen strips hanging from the front of the neck or collar of some ecclesiastical and academic robes

Word History and Origins

Origin of Geneva bands¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Word History and Origins

Origin of Geneva bands¹

C19: named after _Geneva , where originally worn by Swiss Calvinist clergy

Example Sentences

The child wearied by the spectacle of a plump divine, in black gown and Geneva bands, thumping the pulpit-cushions in the madness of incomprehensible oratory, surrendered his ears to the noise of intonations which, in his own treble, would have earned the reprimand, 'Naughty temper.'

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Ma," she said in Italian, "it would seem that these gentry of the Geneva bands have not wit enough to apply to me!—On my honor, I cannot go to meet them!

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Several stood around, the pulpit being in the middle, and already occupied by two ministers in Geneva bands and gowns, while other ministers, similarly attired, stood holding on to it, almost as if they were giving support instead of receiving it.

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At the end of the seventeenth century these broad-falling bands were succeeded by the small Geneva bands, which have ever since been retained by our clergymen and councillors, but in a contracted form, having been originally bon� fide collars, the ends of which hung negligently over the shoulders.

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He wore a gown and large Geneva bands, like a Presbyterian minister; on his head he had a kind of biretta.

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