raiment
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of raiment
1350–1400; Middle English rayment, aphetic variant of arrayment. See array, -ment
Explanation
Raiment is an old-fashioned word for clothing, particularly fancy clothing, like ladies who always wore their best raiment when calling on friends. Raiment is formal clothing. It comes from the Old French word areer or "to array," which describes dressing in decorative clothing, or adorning yourself in the very best. The word raiment has mostly gone out of use, much like the rare practice of getting very dressed up.
Vocabulary lists containing raiment
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Mythology
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"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
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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.
Just in time for coat weather, two local companies are draping Shakespeare plays in new raiment.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 25, 2018
The group, now with a wealthy and aristocratic membership of elite Catholics who parade in ornate raiment, has more recently specialized in aiding refugees and the poor in more than 100 countries.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2017
"The widow and the orphan, the sick and the aged, present themselves, in succession, for food, and raiment, and medical assistance," reads an appeal for contributions written in 1827.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2014
I think the Orwell worship that dominates English letters is, for the most part, a shabby raiment, but the fact remains that he writes with exemplary clarity.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 6, 2014
Above her brow her head was covered with a cap of silver lace netted with small gems, glittering white; but her soft grey raiment had no ornament save a girdle of leaves wrought in silver.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
