tunic
/ˈtjuːnɪk/ noun
Forms tunics tunick
- noun A garment worn over the torso, with or without sleeves, and of various lengths reaching from the hips to the ankles.
- noun (anatomy, botany) Any covering, such as seed coat or the organ that covers a membrane.
- noun Synonym of gymslip.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French tunique, from Latin tunica, possibly from Semitic (compare Aramaic [script needed] (kittuna), Hebrew כותנת (kuttoneth, “coat”), English chiton); or from Etruscan. Existed in Old English as tunece; unknown if that term was lost and then reborrowed later. Doublet of tunica.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An under-garment worn by the ancient Romans of both sexes. It was made with or without sleeves, reached to or below the knees, and was confined at the waist by a girdle.
- noun Any similar garment worm by ancient or Oriental peoples; also, a common name for various styles of loose-fitting under-garments and over-garments worn in modern times by Europeans and others.
Etymology [L. tunica: cf. F.tunique.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tunic”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details