Meanings
plural clothings · alternative obsolete cloathing
- countableuncountableAny of a wide variety of articles, usually made of fabrics, animal hair, animal skin, or some combination thereof, used to cover the human body for warmth, to preserve modesty, or for fashion.
Marco runs a clothing brand.
5 more examples
You should wear warm clothing when it is cold outside.
All but two pieces of clothing came out of the washing machine stained.
A poncho is an item of clothing used by many people in Latin America.
A shirt is an article of clothing that covers the torso and arms.
From others he ſhall ſtand in need of nothing, / Yet on his Brothers ſhall depend for Cloathing.
1626 (date written), John Milton, “At a Vacation Exercise in the Colledge, […]”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], published 1673, →OCLC, page 67Synonyms: attire, apparel, clothes, duds, garments, habiliment, item of clothing, kit (UK)
- countableuncountableAn act or instance of putting clothes on.
The clothing and unclothing of the idols was of special significance.
Synonyms: dressing · Antonyms: undressing
- countableobsoleteuncountableThe art or process of making cloth.
1 more example
[M]any of the poor diſtreſſed People, being bereft of their Habitation, came into England, vvhere the King, in Compaſſion of their Condition, and alſo, conſidering that they might be beneficial to his Subjects, by instructing them in the Art of Cloathing, firſt placed them about Carliſle in the North, and after removed them into South-VVales, vvhere their Poſterity hath ever ſince remained.
a. 1706 (date written), John Ray, “[Discourse II. Of the General Deluge in the Days of Noah, Its Causes and Effects.] That there have been Great Changes Made in the Superficial Part of the Earth since the General Deluge, and by What Means.”, in Three Physio-theological Discourses, […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Innys, […], published 1713, →OCLC, pages 241–242
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of a wide variety of articles, usually made of fabrics, animal hair, animal skin, or some combination thereof, used to cover the human body for warmth, to preserve modesty, or for fashion.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna covering designed to be worn on a person's body
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*klaiþungu“clothing”
- Old English*clāþung
- Middle Englishclothing
- Englishclothing
From Middle English clothing, clathing, from Old English *clāþung, from Proto-West Germanic *klaiþungu (“clothing”), equivalent to clothe + -ing. Cognate with Scots clathing, claithing (“clothing”), Saterland Frisian Klodenge (“clothing”), West Frisian klaaiïng (“clothing”), Dutch kleding (“clothing”), German Kleidung (“clothing”), Danish klædning (“clothing, dress, attire”), Swedish kläding, klädning (“clothing, dress”). Doublet of the dialectal English term cleading, from Middle English clething; compare also cladding.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans klere
- klereclothes
Ancient Greek ἐσθής, ἱμάτια
- ἐσθής (esthḗs)clothes
- ἱμάτια (himátia)clothes
Arabic مَلَابِس, ثِيَاب
- مَلَابِس (malābis)clothes
- ثِيَاب (ṯiyāb)clothes
Basque jantzi
- jantziclothes
Bengali পোশাক
- পোশাক (pōśak)clothes
Bulgarian облекло́, дре́хи
- облекло́ (oblekló)clothes
- дре́хи (dréhi)clothes
Catalan roba
- robaclothes
Chinese Cantonese 衫
- 衫 (saam¹)clothes
Chinese Mandarin 衣服, 衣裳
- 衣服 (yīfu)clothes
- 衣裳 (yīshang)clothes
- 衣著 /衣着 (yīzhuó)clothes
Czech oblečení
- oblečeníclothes
Danish tøj
- tøjclothes
Dutch kleding, kledij
- kledingclothes
- kledijclothes
Esperanto vestaĵo
- vestaĵoclothes
Estonian rõivas, riie
- rõivasclothes
- riieclothes
- riietusclothes
- rõivastusclothes
Finnish vaatetus, vaatteet
- vaatetusclothes
- vaatteetclothes
- pukimetclothes
- asuclothes
French vêtements, habits
- vêtementsclothes
- habitsclothes
German Gewand, Kleidung
- Gewandclothes
- Kleidungclothes
Greek ρούχο
- ρούχο (roúcho)clothes
Hawaiian lole
- loleclothes
Hebrew לְבוּשׁ, בְּגָדִים
- לְבוּשׁ (levúsh)clothes
- בְּגָדִים (b'gadim)clothes
Hindi वस्त्र, कपड़े
- वस्त्र (vastra)clothes
- कपड़े (kapṛe)clothes
- परिधान (paridhān)clothes
Hungarian ruha, ruházat
- ruhaclothes
- ruházatclothes
Icelandic klæðnaður, fatnaður
- klæðnaðurclothes
- fatnaðurclothes
Indonesian pakaian
- pakaianclothes
Irish éadach
- éadachclothes
Italian abbigliamento, vestiti
- abbigliamentoclothes
- vestiticlothes
Japanese 服, 衣服
- 服 (fuku)clothes
- 衣服 (ifuku)clothes
- 衣類 (irui)clothes
Korean 옷, 의상
- 옷 (ot)clothes
- 의상 (uisang)clothes
- 의복 (uibok)clothes
Latin vestīmentum, amiculum
- vestīmentumclothes
- amiculumclothes
- vestisclothes
- vestītusclothes
Latvian apģērbs
- apģērbsclothes
Lithuanian apranga, apdaras
- aprangaclothes
- apdarasclothes
Malay pakaian
- pakaianclothes
Māori kākahu, kaka
- kākahuclothes
- kakaclothes
- pūeruclothes
- pūweruclothes
Norwegian Bokmål klær, klesplagg
- klærclothes
- klesplaggclothes
- tøyclothes
Polish ubrania, odzież
- ubraniaclothes
- odzieżclothes
Portuguese roupa, veste
- roupaclothes
- vesteclothes
- vestiduraclothes
- vestimentaclothes
- indumentoclothes
- trajeclothes
Punjabi ਕੱਪੜਾ, ਪਹਿਰਾਵਾ
- ਕੱਪੜਾ (kappaṛā)clothes
- ਪਹਿਰਾਵਾ (pahirāvā)clothes
Romanian îmbrăcăminte, haină
- îmbrăcăminteclothes
- hainăclothes
Russian оде́жда
- оде́жда (odéžda)clothes
Scottish Gaelic aodach
- aodachclothes
Slovak oblek, oblečenie
- oblekclothes
- oblečenieclothes
- šatyclothes
Spanish ropa, ropaje
- ropaclothes
- ropajeclothes
- indumentariaclothes
- indumentoclothes
- vestidoclothes
- vestiduraclothes
- atuendoclothes
- atavíoclothes
- vestimentaclothes
- pilchasclothes
Swahili nguo, mavazi
- nguoclothes
- mavaziclothes
Swedish kläder
- kläderclothes
Tagalog damit, pananamit
- damitclothes
- pananamitclothes
Tamil ஆடை, உடை
- ஆடை (āṭai)clothes
- உடை (uṭai)clothes
- உடுப்பு (uṭuppu)clothes
Thai เสื้อผ้า
- เสื้อผ้า (sʉ̂ʉa-pâa)clothes
Turkish giysi, giyim kuşam
- giysiclothes
- giyim kuşamclothes
- kıyafetlerclothes
Ukrainian о́дяг, оде́жа
- о́дяг (ódjah)clothes
- оде́жа (odéža)clothes
Urdu کَپْڑے, لِباس
- کَپْڑے (kapṛe)clothes
- لِباس (libās)clothes
- پوشاک (pośāk)clothes
Vietnamese quần áo, đồ
- quần áoclothes
- đồclothes
Welsh dillad
- dilladclothes
Zulu izingubo
- izinguboclothes
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with clothing
All rhymes →Cite this entry
clothing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clothing
“clothing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clothing. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clothing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clothing.
Source: clothing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.