Meanings
gaiter1
plural gaiters
- A covering of cloth or leather for the ankle and instep.
- A covering cloth or leather for the whole leg from the knee to the instep, fitting down upon the shoe.
Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC - A neck gaiter.
[He] stood and pulled up the gaiter around his neck to mask his mouth and nose. “People are careful around here, so you'll want to put your mask on,” she told Perry.
2022 June 14, D. Jackson Leigh, Forever Comes in Threes, Bold Strokes Books Inc, →ISBN - A part of the ecclesiastical garb of a bishop.
- automotiveA protective flexible sleeve covering a moving part, intended to keep the part clean.
present singular third person gaiters · participle present gaitering · participle past gaitered · past gaitered
- transitiveTo dress with gaiters.
gaiter2
Gaiter3
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna cloth covering (a legging) that covers the instep and ankles
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
gaiter · noun, verb
- Proto-Germanic*wastijō“garment; dress”
- Frankish*wastiju
- Old French*gueste
- Middle Frenchguiestres
- Frenchguêtre
- Englishgaiter
Borrowed from French guêtre, from Middle French guiestres, guestes pl, from Old French *gueste, from Frankish *wastiju, from Proto-Germanic *wastijō (“garment; dress”). Cognate with Middle High German wester (“a child's chrisom-cloth”), Middle High German westebarn (“godchild”), Old English wæstling (“a coverlet”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌹 (wasti, “garment; dress”).
More words from French, Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →gaiter · noun
- Old Englishgāte-trēow“the common dogwood”
- Middle Englishgaytre
- Englishgaiter
From Middle English gaytre, from Old English gāte-trēow (“the common dogwood”), equivalent to gāt (“goat”) + trēow (“tree”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian гета, гамаш
- гета (geta)covering for the ankle and instep
- гамаш (gamaš)covering for the ankle and instep
Catalan polaina
- polainacovering for the ankle and instep
Danish gamache
- gamachecovering for the ankle and instep
Dutch slobkousen
- slobkousencovering for the ankle and instep
Finnish nilkkain, säärys
- nilkkaincovering for the ankle and instep
- sääryscovering for the ankle and instep
- säärystincovering for the ankle and instep
French guêtre
- guêtrecovering for the ankle and instep
German Gamasche
- Gamaschecovering for the ankle and instep
Italian ghette
- ghettecovering for the ankle and instep
Japanese 脚絆, スパッツ
- 脚絆 (kyahan)covering for the ankle and instep
- スパッツ (supattsu)covering for the ankle and instep
Lithuanian getras
- getrascovering for the ankle and instep
Persian گتر
- گتر (getr)covering for the ankle and instep
Polish stuptuty, getry
- stuptutycovering for the ankle and instep
- getrycovering for the ankle and instep
Portuguese polaina
- polainacovering for the ankle and instep
Romanian ghetră
- ghetrăcovering for the ankle and instep
Russian ге́тра, гама́ша
- ге́тра (gétra)covering for the ankle and instep
- гама́ша (gamáša)covering for the ankle and instep
- штибле́та (štibléta)covering for the ankle and instep
Spanish polaina, sobrecalza
- polainacovering for the ankle and instep
- sobrecalzacovering for the ankle and instep
Welsh coesarn, coesarnau
- coesarncovering for the ankle and instep
- coesarnaucovering for the ankle and instep
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with gaiter
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
gaiter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiter
“gaiter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiter. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gaiter,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiter.
Source: gaiter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.