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.
Is not the life more than the food, and the body more than the raiment?
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 28, 2019
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
Mr. Martin used his classical training to clothe the band’s songs in musical raiment that was unprecedented for pop songs of the time.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 9, 2016
"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
As tall as trolls they were, twelve feet or more in height; their strong bodies, stout as young trees, seemed to be clad with raiment or with hide of close-fitting grey and brown.
From "The Two Towers" 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.
