robe
[rohb]
- 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.
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- to clothe or invest with a robe or robes; dress; array.
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- to put on a robe.
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Origin of robe
1225–75; Middle English < Old French: orig., spoil, booty < Germanic (akin to rob); compare Old High German roub > German Raub
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for robe
Contemporary Examples
Not because she disagrees with a hypothetical future president, or because she simply likes the robe.
My fantasy unravels when she opens the robe, revealing a sling around her broken arm.
While it may stretch a long way, that robe contains relatively little material.
He grabs her by the front of her robe, and he hauls her off down the hall.
They wrapped me in a robe and I went back to the living room.
Historical Examples
The robe of fine Milesian texture, was saffron-coloured, with a purple edge.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
That which was the body has come to be only the rich fringe of the nation's robe.
He was almost completely enveloped in a robe of softened skins.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
He was throwing back the robe to leap from the sleigh when the figure reached him.
Tiverton TalesAlice Brown
One might edge a wall-paper or fringe a robe with a recurring decimal.
Alarms and DiscursionsG. K. Chesterton
robe
- any loose flowing garment, esp the official vestment of a peer, judge, or academic
- a dressing gown or bathrobe
- Australian informal a wardrobe
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- to put a robe, etc, on (oneself or someone else); dress
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Word Origin
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
n.
"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.
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v.
late 14c., from robe (n.). Related: Robed; robing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper