peplos

American  

[pep-luhs] / ˈpɛp ləs /

Or peplus

noun

plural

peploses

1. a loose-fitting outer garment worn, draped in folds, by women in ancient Greece.

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peplos British  

/ ˈpɛpləs /

noun

1. Also called: peplum.  (in ancient Greece) the top part of a woman's attire, caught at the shoulders and hanging in folds to the waist

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Other Word Forms

• peplosed adjective

Etymology

Origin of peplos

First recorded in 1770–80, peplos is from the Greek word péplos (masculine)

Example Sentences

The artistic director at Christian Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri, opened her couture show with a simple white dress resembling the peplos of classical Greece: a rectangle of cloth draped to make a flowing column.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 11, 2019

This year, Chiuri printed the peplos with the title of a crucial work of social criticism—Bernard Rudofsky’s “Are Clothes Modern?”—in a typeface inspired by the cloth cover of its first edition, from 1947.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 11, 2019

These instances are so exceptional, that it is curious that here, as in the case of the peplos, in each case there should happen to be a duplicate.

From Needlework As Art by Alford, Marianne Margaret Compton Cust, Viscountess

This peplos was made of crocus-colored stuff, on which the figures of the gods engaged in their contests with the giants appeared in beautiful, rich embroidery.

From A History of Art for Beginners and Students Painting, Sculpture, Architecture by Waters, Clara Erskine Clement

His name and that of his father, Antigonus, were woven into the sacred peplos.

From A History of Art for Beginners and Students Painting, Sculpture, Architecture by Waters, Clara Erskine Clement