Dictionary.com
definitions

gown

[goun]
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gown ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

verb (used with object)

to dress in a gown.

RELATED CONTENT

What does 🎓 - Graduation Cap Emoji mean?
Read more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE
Lexical Investigations: Stuff
As a noun and a verb, the word stuff has had many lives, dating all the way back to the 1300s. The sense of wool and cloth is chiefly British. In the nineteenth century, a junior barrister was called a “stuff gownsman,” because his robes were made of wool, unlike a barrister appointed to the Queen’s Council, who was called a “silk gownsman,” and whose promotion …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

garb, frock, costume, garment, habit, clothes

Origin of gown

1300–50; Middle English goune < Old French < Late Latin gunna fur or leather garment
Related formsun·gowned, adjective

Synonyms for gown

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gown ON THESAURUS.COM
1. frock.

Synonym study

1. See dress.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gown

Contemporary Examples of gown

Historical Examples of gown

  • See to my gown, the third that I have befouled within the week.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • "Stay though, my friend, it was his gown," objected Alleyne.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • A combination of crocuses and snow on the ground had given her an inspiration for a gown.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • There might have been a night gown in it, and there might not.

    Samantha Among the Brethren, Part 4.

    Josiah Allen's Wife (Marietta Holley)

  • The soft white folds of her woman's gown fell loosely about her.

British Dictionary definitions for gown

gown

noun

any of various outer garments, such as a woman's elegant or formal dress, a dressing robe, or a protective garment, esp one worn by surgeons during operations
a loose wide garment indicating status, such as worn by academics
the members of a university as opposed to the other residents of the university townCompare town (def. 7)

verb

(tr) to supply with or dress in a gown

Word Origin for gown

C14: from Old French goune, from Late Latin gunna garment made of leather or fur, of Celtic origin
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
Word Origin and History for gown
n.

c.1300, from Old French goune "robe, coat, habit, gown," from Late Latin gunna "leather garment, skin, hide," of unknown origin. Used by St. Boniface (8c.) for a fur garment permitted for old or infirm monks. Klein writes it is probably "a word adopted from a language of the Apennine or the Balkan Peninsula." OED points to Byzantine Greek gouna, a word for a coarse garment sometimes made of skins, but also notes "some scholars regard [Late Latin gunna] as of Celtic origin."

In 18c., gown was the common word for what is now usually styled a dress. It was maintained more in the U.S. than in Britain, but was somewhat revived 20c. in fashion senses and in comb. forms (e.g. bridal gown, nightgown). Meaning "flowing robe worn as a badge of office or authority" is from late 14c., on image of the Roman toga. As collective singular for "residents of a university" (1650s) it usually now is opposed to town.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for gown

gown

[goun]

n.

A robe or smock worn in operating rooms and other parts of hospitals as a guard against contamination.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Idioms and Phrases with gown

gown

see cap and gown; town and gown.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.