tunic
[too-nik, tyoo-]
- Chiefly British. a coat worn as part of a military or other uniform.
- a gownlike outer garment, with or without sleeves and sometimes belted, worn by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
- a woman's upper garment, either loose or close-fitting and extending over the skirt to the hips or below.
- a garment with a short skirt, worn by women for sports.
- Ecclesiastical. a tunicle.
- Anatomy, Zoology. any covering or investing membrane or part, as of an organ.
- Botany. an integument, as that covering a seed.
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Origin of tunic
before 900; (< French tunique) < Latin tunica; perhaps also continuing Old English tunece, tunica < Latin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tunic
Historical Examples
His tunic was always worn out and patched, but his weapons were mounted in silver.
A Hero of Our TimeM. Y. Lermontov
The policeman drew from the pocket of his tunic a dirty note-book.
A Nest of SpiesPierre Souvestre
Jorgenson, with his hands deep in the pockets of his tunic, listened, looking down.
The RescueJoseph Conrad
He did not attempt to go to sleep; he did not even unbutton the top button of his tunic.
VictoryJoseph Conrad
Bimba tells me that Tunic has disappeared no one knows whither.
The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in CubaWalter Goodman
tunic
- any of various hip-length or knee-length garments, such as the loose sleeveless garb worn in ancient Greece or Rome, the jacket of some soldiers, or a woman's hip-length garment, worn with a skirt or trousers
- anatomy botany zoology a covering, lining, or enveloping membrane of an organ or partSee also tunica
- mainly RC Church another word for tunicle
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Word Origin
Old English tunice (unattested except in the accusative case), from Latin tunica
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for tunic
n.
c.1600, from Middle French tunique, from Latin tunica (cf. Spanish tunica, Italian tonica, Old English tunece, Old High German tunihha), probably from a Semitic source (cf. Hebrew kuttoneth "coat," Aramaic kittuna).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
tunic
(tōō′nĭk)- A coat or layer enveloping an organ or a part; tunica.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.