Definitions

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

  • noun A white ceremonial vestment made of linen or lawn, worn by bishops and other church dignitaries.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Originally, a short cloak worn by men of all degrees, also by women (in this case frequently a white linen outer garment).
  • noun Eccles., a close-fitting vestment of linen or lawn, worn by bishops and some others.
  • noun Hence, a bishop: also used attributively.
  • noun A mantelet worn by the peers of England during ceremonies.
  • noun A kind of fish, the roach or piper gurnard.
  • To invest with a rochet.

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

  • noun (Eccl.) A linen garment resembling the surplise, but with narrower sleeves, also without sleeves, worn by bishops, and by some other ecclesiastical dignitaries, in certain religious ceremonies.
  • noun obsolete A frock or outer garment worn in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
  • noun (Zoöl.) The red gurnard, or gurnet. See gurnard.

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Old French, of Germanic origin.]

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Examples

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  • (n.): A religious vestment consisting of an over-tunic usually made of fine white linen, cambric, or fine cotton material, that extends to the knees.

    September 19, 2009

  • "Now then, here's a prior. We know him, too, from the violet rochet he wears, as do all canons of Saint Augustine."

    Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, p 2 of the Berkley paperback edition

    February 24, 2012