vestment

[vest-muhnt]

noun

1. a garment, especially an outer garment.

2. Chiefly Literary.,  vestments, attire; clothing.

3. an official or ceremonial robe.

4. Ecclesiastical.

   1. one of the garments worn by the clergy and their assistants, choristers, etc., during divine service and on other occasions.

   2. one of the garments worn by the celebrant, deacon, and subdeacon during the celebration of the Eucharist.

5. something that clothes or covers like a garment.

   a mountaintop with a vestment of clouds.

vestment

/ ˈvɛstmənt, vɛstˈmɛntəl /

noun

1. a garment or robe, esp one denoting office, authority, or rank

2. any of various ceremonial garments worn by the clergy at religious services

Other Word Forms

• vestmental adjective
• vestmented adjective
• subvestment noun
• supervestment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of vestment¹

1250–1300; syncopated variant of Middle English vestiment < Medieval Latin vestīmentum priestly robe, Latin: garment, equivalent to vestī ( re ) to dress ( vest ) + -mentum -ment

Word History and Origins

Origin of vestment¹

C13: from Old French vestiment, from Latin vestīmentum clothing, from vestīre to clothe

Example Sentences

We next enter a fictive chapel, with the Latin rite being celebrated by a set of crimson vestments and an altar cloth, made in Paris in 1619 and given by Louis XIII.

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The objects, which include richly embroidered vestments and lavishly sculpted monstrances, Eucharist thrones and sanctuary lamps made of jewel-studded precious metals, are eye-catchingly high Baroque.

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Glittering liturgical objects and lavish vestments from the 17th and 18th centuries highlight the skills of European craftsmen from that period as well as the religious import of the church to which they were gifted.

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Scrutiny began as soon as he stepped on to the balcony, giving the crowd a glimpse of the vestments he chose for his first appearance.

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The mockup of himself in papal vestments crossed a line with many Catholic leaders in the United States and Rome, however.

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Related Words

• frock 
• garb 
• robe 
• stole 
• tunic