Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Clothing, especially outer garments; attire.
  • noun A covering or adornment.
  • transitive verb To clothe or dress.
  • transitive verb To adorn or embellish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make ready; prepare; fit out; put in proper order.
  • To dress or clothe; adorn or set off; deck with ornaments.
  • To furnish with external apparatus; equip: as, ships appareled for sea.
  • noun Preparation; the work of preparing or providing.
  • noun Things prepared or provided; articles or materials to be used for a given purpose; apparatus; equipment.
  • noun A person's outer clothing or vesture; raiment; external array; hence, figuratively, aspect; guise.
  • noun Eccles., an ornament of the alb and amice, found as a simple fringe or colored stripe earlier than the tenth century, most extensively employed and elaborate in workmanship during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and still used in the form of pieces of lace sewed upon silk.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To make or get (something) ready; to prepare.
  • transitive verb To furnish with apparatus; to equip; to fit out.
  • transitive verb To dress or clothe; to attire.
  • transitive verb To dress with external ornaments; to cover with something ornamental; to deck; to embellish.
  • noun External clothing; vesture; garments; dress; garb; external habiliments or array.
  • noun A small ornamental piece of embroidery worn on albs and some other ecclesiastical vestments.
  • noun (Naut.) The furniture of a ship, as masts, sails, rigging, anchors, guns, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun clothing
  • verb transitive To furnish with apparatus; to equip; to fit out.
  • verb transitive To dress or clothe; to attire.
  • verb transitive To dress with external ornaments; to cover with something ornamental; to deck; to embellish; as, trees appareled with flowers, or a garden with verdure.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb provide with clothes or put clothes on
  • noun clothing in general

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English appareil, from Old French apareil, preparation, from apareillier, to prepare, possibly from Vulgar Latin *appariculāre, from Latin apparāre; see apparatus.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French appareiller.

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