habiliment:

Habiliment, from Middle French abillement, is a bit old-fashioned and is often used to describe complex, multi-pieced outfits like those of medieval times. For instance, a full suit of armor-which might include a helmet, a gorget, pallettes, brassard, a skirt of tasses, tuilles, gauntlets, cuisses, jambeaus, and sollerets, along with other pieces and plates-can be considered the habiliments of a knight. Nowadays, habiliment, which is usually used in its plural form, is also fitting for the dress of an occupation, such as the different vestments of a priest, or for clothes, such as elegant formal wear, worn on special occasions. When habiliment is used for plain old clothes, it is more than likely for jocular or poetic effect-as we see it being used by William Shakespeare in the first example below.

(Via Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day)

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My original entry is here: TIL: habiliment. It posted Wed, 26 Sep 2018 13:44:17 +0000.

Filed under: culture,