See Also: gown(medicine)
gown(dictionary)
gown(dictionary)
Corp and Gown(money)
dressing gown(dictionary)

gown (iou)



gown noun & verb. ME.
[Old French goune, gon(n)e from late Latin gunna fur garment (cf. Byzantine Greek gouna fur, fur-lined garment).]
A. noun.
A loose flowing outer robe indicating the wearer's office, profession, or status, esp. as worn by a lawyer, alderman, or judge, or by a member of the clergy or of a university, college, or school. ME.
Shakespeare Twelfth Night Put on this gown and this beard; make him believe thou art..the curate. W. M. Praed A scholar, in my cap and gown.
b. The office, profession, or status denoted by the wearing of a gown; collect. the members or holders of this. E17.
Dryden The Cut-throat Sword and clamorous Gown. J. Potter I have now taken the gown [holy orders].
c. spec. (collect.) The resident members of a university. Now chiefly in town and gown, non-members and members of a university in a particular place. M17.
C. Bede When Gown was absent, Town was miserable.
Orig., a long loose upper garment for everyday wear by men or women. Now, a woman's (long, formal, or elegant) dress. LME.
blue gown: see BLUE adjective. dressing-gown, nightgown, etc.
A. Lurie No mini-dresses..it was all long gowns of chiffon, lace and watered satin.
b. ellipt. A nightgown; a dressing-gown. L16.
Defoe I came down..in my gown and slippers.
A Roman toga, or similar garment. LME.
R. Graves His patrician's gown was disgracefully stained.
A protective garment worn in a hospital by a staff member during surgery, or (more fully hospital gown) by a patient. E20.
Comb.: gownsman, gownman a person who wears a gown, esp. as an indication of status, office, or profession; a member of the legal profession, a clergyman, a member of a university.
b. verb.
verb trans. Attire in a gown. Freq. as gowned pa. pple or ppl adjective. LME.
A. Levy Gorgeously gowned and bejewelled women.
verb intrans. Put on a gown. Chiefly in gown up, put on a protective overall, esp. in an operating theatre. L19.