robe

[rohb]

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noun

a long, loose or flowing gown or outer garment worn by men or women as ceremonial dress, an official vestment, or garb of office.

any long, loose garment, especially one for wear while lounging or preparing to dress, as a bathrobe or dressing gown.

a woman's gown or dress, especially of a more elaborate kind: a robe for the evening.

robes, apparel in general; dress; costume.

a piece of fur, cloth, knitted work, etc., used as a blanket, covering, or wrap: a buffalo robe; a lap robe.

verb (used with object), robed, rob·ing.

to clothe or invest with a robe or robes; dress; array.

verb (used without object), robed, rob·ing.

to put on a robe.

Origin of robe

1225–75; Middle English < Old French: orig., spoil, booty < Germanic (akin to rob); compare Old High German roub > German Raub

Related formsrobe·less, adjectiverob·er, nounun·der·robe, noun

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

Related Words for robe

frock, garment, bathrobe, vestment, costume, dress, kimono, mantle, habit, negligee, wrapper, outfit, cape, covering, housecoat, muumuu, peignoir

Examples from the Web for robe

Contemporary Examples of robe

Not because she disagrees with a hypothetical future president, or because she simply likes the robe.
Justice Ginsburg Shouldn’t Quit Just Yet
Kevin Bleyer
December 1, 2014
My fantasy unravels when she opens the robe, revealing a sling around her broken arm.
The Singular Artist of New Yorkistan
Lizzie Crocker
November 14, 2014
While it may stretch a long way, that robe contains relatively little material.
Comet Surfing on a Rocket
Matthew R. Francis
August 10, 2014
He grabs her by the front of her robe, and he hauls her off down the hall.
The Strange and Mysterious Death of Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis
Richard Ben Cramer
January 11, 2014
They wrapped me in a robe and I went back to the living room.
Inside Gaddafi’s Harem: The Story of a Girl’s Abduction
Annick Cojean
August 29, 2013

Historical Examples of robe

The robe of fine Milesian texture, was saffron-coloured, with a purple edge.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
That which was the body has come to be only the rich fringe of the nation's robe.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
He was almost completely enveloped in a robe of softened skins.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
He was throwing back the robe to leap from the sleigh when the figure reached him.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown
One might edge a wall-paper or fringe a robe with a recurring decimal.
Alarms and Discursions
G. K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for robe

robe

noun

any loose flowing garment, esp the official vestment of a peer, judge, or academic

a dressing gown or bathrobe

Australian informal a wardrobe

verb

to put a robe, etc, on (oneself or someone else); dress

Word Origin for robe

C13: from Old French: of Germanic origin; compare Old French rober to rob, Old High German roub booty

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 robe

"long, loose outer garment," late 13c., from Old French robe "long, loose outer garment" (12c.), from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German rouba "vestments"), from West Germanic *raubo "booty" (cf. Old High German roub "robbery, breakage"), which also yielded rob (v.).

Presumably the notion is of garments taken from the enemy as spoils, and the Old French word had a secondary sense of "plunder, booty," while Germanic cognates had both senses; e.g. Old English reaf "plunder, booty, spoil; garment, armor, vestment." Meaning "dressing gown" is from 1854. Metonymic sense of "the legal profession" is attested from 1640s.

late 14c., from robe (n.). Related: Robed; robing.