Meanings
present singular third person clothes · participle present clothing · participle past clothed · past clothed · archaic participle past clad · archaic past clad · alternative obsolete cloathe
- transitiveTo adorn or cover with clothing; to dress; to supply clothes or clothing.
to feed and clothe a family; to clothe oneself extravagantly
3 more examples
Go with me to clothe you as becomes you.
c. 1590-92, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, act IV, scene iiFor the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:21The naked every day he clad, / When he put on his clothes.
1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLCSynonyms: dight
- figurativelyTo cover or invest, as if with a garment.
to clothe somebody with authority or power
4 more examples
words clothed in reason's garb
1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLCHis sides are clothed with waving wood.
1726, John Dyer, Grongar Hilllanguage in which they can clothe their thoughts
1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLCSteep frowning mountains, their upper slopes clothed with dark pine woods and their lofty summits capped with snow for many months of the year.
1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 164
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo adorn or cover with clothing; to dress; to supply clothes or clothing.
More synonyms by meaning
verbprovide with clothes or put clothes on
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gley-“to adhere to, stick”
- Proto-Germanic*klaiþōną“to clothe”
- Old English*clāþian“to clothe”
- Middle Englishclothen
- Englishclothe
From Middle English clothen, from Old English *clāþian (“to clothe”), from Proto-Germanic *klaiþōną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to adhere to, stick”). Cognate with Dutch kleden, German kleiden, Swedish kläda, after apocope klä. See also cloth, clad.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἱματίζω
- ἱματίζω (himatízō)to adorn with clothing
Bulgarian обличам
- обличам (obličam)to adorn with clothing
Czech obléci, oblékat
- oblécito adorn with clothing
- oblékatto adorn with clothing
- šatitto adorn with clothing
- ošatitto adorn with clothing
Dutch kleden
- kledento adorn with clothing
Esperanto vesti
- vestito adorn with clothing
Finnish pukea ylleen, pukeutua
- pukea ylleento adorn with clothing
- pukeutuato adorn with clothing
- vaatettaato adorn with clothing
French vêtir, habiller
- vêtirto adorn with clothing
- habillerto adorn with clothing
German bekleiden, anziehen
- bekleidento adorn with clothing
- anziehento adorn with clothing
Hungarian borít, burkol
- borítto adorn with clothing
- burkolto adorn with clothing
- fedto adorn with clothing
- felöltöztetto adorn with clothing
- felruházto adorn with clothing
- öltöztetto adorn with clothing
- ruhával ellátto adorn with clothing
- ruházto adorn with clothing
- takarto adorn with clothing
- felruházto cover or invest, as if with a garment
- ráruházto cover or invest, as if with a garment
Icelandic klæða
- klæðato adorn with clothing
Italian vestire
- vestireto adorn with clothing
Latin vestiō
- vestiōto adorn with clothing
Māori tāwharu, whakapūngenengene
- tāwharuto adorn with clothing
- whakapūngenengeneto adorn with clothing
- whakakākahuto adorn with clothing
Persian لباس پوشاندن
- لباس پوشاندنto adorn with clothing
Portuguese carregar, trazer
- carregarto adorn with clothing
- trazerto adorn with clothing
- vestirto adorn with clothing
Romanian îmbrăca
- îmbrăcato adorn with clothing
Russian облача́ть, облачи́ть
- облача́ть (oblačátʹ)to adorn with clothing
- облачи́ть (oblačítʹ)to adorn with clothing
- одева́ть (odevátʹ)to adorn with clothing
- оде́ть (odétʹ)to adorn with clothing
Scottish Gaelic sgeadaich
- sgeadaichto adorn with clothing
Spanish vestir, arropar
- vestirto adorn with clothing
- arroparto adorn with clothing
Swedish klä
- kläto adorn with clothing
Tagalog bihisan, damitan
- bihisanto adorn with clothing
- damitanto adorn with clothing
Ukrainian одяга́ти, одягти́ pf or одягну́ти
- одяга́ти (odjaháty)to adorn with clothing
- одягти́ pf or одягну́ти (odjahtý)to adorn with clothing
- вдяга́ти (vdjaháty)to adorn with clothing
- вдягти́ pf or вдягну́ти (vdjahtý)to adorn with clothing
Yiddish אָנטאָן
- אָנטאָן (onton)to adorn with clothing
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with clothe
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
clothe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clothe
“clothe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clothe. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clothe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clothe.
Source: clothe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.