tunicle

T1U1N1I1C3L1E1
UK/ˈt͡ʃuːnɪkəl/UK/ˈtjuːnɪkəl/US/ˈtunɪkəl/US/ˈtunəkəl/

noun

A small tunic.

Scrabble 9

Meanings

nountunicle (plural tunicles)

plural tunicles

  1. obsoleteA small tunic.
  2. A vestment worn by a subdeacon at celebrations of the Eucharist.

    He longed for the minor sacred offices, to be vested with the tunicle of subdeacon at high mass […].

    1916, James Joyce, chapter IV, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC
    1 more example

    In illustrating his views on the Popish tendency of these rubrics, the rev. gentleman particularly referred to the use of the alb, and cope, and tunicle, by the clergy in the discharge of their official duties.

    1845 January 11, The Times, p.5 col. D
  3. anatomyA tunica; a membrane or membranous sheath of skin.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Latintunicula
  2. Englishtunicle

Borrowed from Latin tunicula, diminutive of tunica (“tunic”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

tunicle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tunicle

MLA

“tunicle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tunicle. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tunicle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tunicle.

Source: tunicle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.