begowned

alternative be-gowned

1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of begown

alternative be-gowned

1. not comparableWearing a gown.

   These girls, chosen for their good figures and attractive appearance, walk about in front of the buyer begowned in the latest models, and their method of presentation may make or mar a sale.

   1918, Ordway Tead, chapter 3, in Instincts in Industry: A Study of Working-Class Psychology, Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, pages 36–37

   2 more examples

   […] with the exception of the Speaker, who is handsomely arrayed in a black gown and long wig, and three attendant clerks, who are also begowned and bewigged, the house exhibits nothing more than some ranges of green benches, sparingly occupied with a few straggling members, lounging about in the most unceremonious postures, some with coloured cravats, others with dirty boots, and almost all […] with their hats on.

   1821, “Jonathan Kentucky’s Journal”, in The New Monthly Magazine, volume 2, pages 107–108

   It was Oxford now—the matriculation photograph, posed in the stony front quad at Corpus, the pelican on top of the sundial appearing to sit on the head of the lanky, begowned chemist at the centre of the back row.

   1988, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 3, in The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 60

   Synonyms: gowned