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robe, n.1

DRAFT REVISION June 2010

Brit. /rb/, U.S. /rob/  Forms: ME rob, ME roob, ME-16 robbe, ME- robe, 15 roobe, 15-16 roab, 15-16 roabe; Sc. pre-17 roab, pre-17 roabe, pre-17 robbis (plural), pre-17 roib, pre-17 roobe, pre-17 rowb, pre-17 17- robe, pre-17 19- rob. [< Old French roube, Old French, Middle French reube, Anglo-Norman and Old French robbe, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French, French robe (feminine) monk's habit (c1160), set of clothes made from the same fabric, outfit comprising a number of pieces (both c1165), woman's outer garment with sleeves, covering the body down to the feet (1165-70), clothing (1212 in Anglo-Norman), livery (1283-1307), pelt or plumage of certain (especially colourful) animals (c1640), the legal profession (1642), apparently a narrowed sense of Old French reube, roube, Anglo-Norman and Old French robbe, robe booty, spoils of war (in Anglo-Norman apparently especially clothing), movable goods belonging to an individual (both mid 12th cent.), probably ultimately a borrowing of the Germanic base of Old High German rauba (feminine) booty, spoils, looted clothing < the same base as REAVE v.¹(compare REIF n. and masculine Germanic forms cited at that entry). This semantic development is apparently attested earlier by post-classical Latin rauba (from 12th cent. also roba) booty, spoils (7th cent.), clothes taken from an enemy (8th cent.), clothes, man's or woman's garment (frequent from 12th cent. in British sources; also from 13th cent. in continental sources), livery (frequent from 13th cent. in British sources; also from 13th cent. in continental sources). Compare REAF n. and also ROB v.
  Compare Old Occitan rouba booty (12th cent.), merchandise (13th cent.), movable goods, gown (both 14th cent), Catalan roba merchandise, cargo (late 13th cent.), act of plundering, pillaging (a1306), booty, personal effects (both 14th cent.), clothing, gown (both early 15th cent.), Italian roba personal effects (late 13th cent.), piece of clothing, garment (14th cent.). Probably < an ultimately related Germanic base (compare RIPE v.²) are Spanish ropa household items, luggage, clothing (1090; 917 as raupa), Portuguese roupa garment, clothing, fabric, household linens (13th cent.; 1136 as raupa).
  Compare also (< French) Dutch robe gown, vestment, toga, etc. (c1578), German Robe long woman's outer garment with sleeves, ceremonial dress (both end of the 16th cent.), robes of office (18th cent.), Swedish rob, robe woman's gown (mid 18th cent.), ecclesiastical vestment (mid 19th cent.).
  With sense 6 compare French robe d'enfant (1636).] 

    1. a. A long loose outer garment reaching to the feet or ankles; a gown.
  Common in Europe until the end of the Middle Ages, and still worn in many countries of Asia and Africa.

c1225 Worcester Glosses Bodl. MSS in Anglia (1928) 52 24 Reaf : robe. c1250 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 64 ine robin of fau & of gris..rotihin sal so dot e lef ad honkit on e ris. a1300 Passion our Lord l. 66 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 39 Ne hedde he none robe, of fowe ne of gray. c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) 163 He was cloed in a robe reded wi blood. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 3676 His moder..cled him..Wit his broer robe. c1400 (c1378) LANGLAND Piers Plowman (Laud) (1869) B. XIII. 227 And fewe robes I fonge or furred gounes. 1474 CAXTON tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) I. ii. 12 Them that ben cladd in thy clothynge & robes. a1500 (1422) J. YONGE tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 151 Hym Suffysid a lytill graue..for his halle, and for his roob. ?1553 (c1501) G. DOUGLAS Palice of Honour (London) II. l. 790 in Shorter Poems (1967) 54 With lawrere crownyt in robbis syd all new, Of a fassoun. 1582 R. STANYHURST tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis II. 43 Theare [is] wardrob abundant Of roabs most pretiouse. 1601 P. HOLLAND tr. Pliny Hist. World II. XXXIV. v, In auncient time all the Images and Statues erected to the honour of any men, were in their gownes and robes. a1616 SHAKESPEARE King John (1623) II. i. 141 O well did he become that Lyons robe, That did disrobe the Lion of that robe. 1667 MILTON Paradise Lost II. 543 As when Alcides..felt th' envenom'd robe. 1730 J. THOMSON Autumn in Seasons 182 The glittering robe, Of every hue reflected light can give. 1796 H. HUNTER tr. J. H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature II. 511 Turbans and flowing robes are adapted to hot countries. 1827 G. KEPPEL Personal Narr. Trav. Babylonia (ed. 3) I. xiv. 324 We found the figure of a man..dressed in a long robe. 1877 W. C. BRYANT tr. Homer Odyssey v. 278 The nymph too, in a robe of silver white,..Arrayed herself. 1953 Citizen (Letchworth, Herts.) 4 Sept. 1/8 There were fruitarians, nutarians, simple lifers, long-haired men, women with long, flowing robes, and a few as near nude as they dared. 1970 A. K. ARMAH Fragments (1974) 29 A man with a thick beard and a long white robe gesticulated, danced and swayed with the music. 2001 A. SOLOMON Noonday Demon (2002) iii. 166 Mareme Diouf came to meet us, barefoot, wearing a headdress and a long robe.

    b. In pl. Outer clothes in general, esp. long, loose-fitting ones.
  Sometimes difficult to distinguish from the plural of sense 1a.

c1330 Horn Child l. 865 in J. Hall King Horn (1901) 189 Now be min robes riuen, & me no was no noer euen Of alle is seuen ere. c1350 How Good Wife taught her Daughter (Emmanuel) l. 100 With riche robes [c1500 Trin. Cambr. roobys] and gerlondes..Ne cuntrefete no leuedi. c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) 12427 When he all e suth had sene, his ryche robes he rofe and rent. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 13939 Whan he wackont of wo, he wan vpo fote, All-to rechit his robis. c1575 G. GASCOIGNE Hundred Flowers in Wks. (1575) 44 You shall knowe the cause, wherefore these roabes are worne, And why I goe outlandishe lyke, yet being Englishe borne. a1616 SHAKESPEARE Taming of Shrew (1623) I. ii. 130 Now shal my friend Petruchio do me grace, And offer me disguis'd in sober robes, To old Baptista. a1616 SHAKESPEARE Taming of Shrew (1623) III. ii. 112 See not your Bride in these vnreuerent robes. 1740 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. (ed. 2) X. 218 He..shook her robes, lest she should have concealed poison in them. 1770 O. GOLDSMITH Deserted Village 336 She left her wheel and robes of country brown. 1820 KEATS Hyperion I. 214 His flaming robes stream'd out beyond his heels. 1880 Cornhill Mag. Dec. 646 Josephine in her flowing robes was a noble-looking woman. 1908 F. MORTON Laughter & Tears 65 Her step was noiseless, and her trailing grey Sad robes were Silence visible. 1981 T. D. BARNES Constantine & Eusebius xiv. 260 Constantine..laid aside the imperial purple, and donned plain robes of brilliant white. 2005 D. JAMES Baked to Death 111 A tall, very young woman dressed in simple robes came running into the tent.

    2. a. A long outer garment of a particular form or material worn to denote a person's rank, office, profession, etc. Freq. with modifying word.

c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 324 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 116 e Abite of Monek he nam, And a-boue al an clerkene Robe. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9072 Tas of..Mi king rob [Fairf. kinges robe] als at i wer. c1400 (a1376) LANGLAND Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr.) A. III. 271 Schal no seriaunt for at seruyse were a silk houue, Ne no ray robe of riche pelure. 1483 CAXTON tr. A. Chartier Curial sig. iv, Oftymes the peple make grete wondrynges of the ryche robe of the courtyour. 1537 T. STARKEY Let. 1 Feb. in Eng. in Reign Henry VIII (1878) I. p. lxv, Master Pole hathe gotten the Cardynallys hatte & robbe made. 1598 SHAKESPEARE Henry IV, Pt. 1 III. ii. 56 Thus did I keepe my person fresh and new, My presence like a roabe pontificall, Nere seene but wondred at. a1616 SHAKESPEARE Measure for Measure (1623) II. ii. 63 Nor the deputed sword, The Marshalls Truncheon, nor the Iudges Robe. 1688 T. D'URFEY Fool's Preferment V. 79 The King..has..made you the Duke of Dunstable; And as such, he bids you wear this Robe of State. 1764 E. SEYMOUR Compl. Hist. Eng. I. 628/1 Henry now assumed the ducal robe, as sovereign of Normandy. 1794 T. MAURICE Indian Antiq. V. 138 Golden bells formed a part of the ornaments of the pontifical robe of the Jewish high-priest. 1841 E. W. LANE tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 85 He then bestowed upon him a robe of honour. 1855 T. B. MACAULAY Hist. Eng. III. xiv. 382 Johnson had therefore been stripped of his robe by persons who had no jurisdiction over him. 1906 H. F. BROWN tr. P. Molmenti Venice I. II. ix. 9 The nobles and magistrates adopted, as official dress for state occasions, the long robe lined with fur. 1961 M. BEADLE These Ruins are Inhabited xxviii. 333 Then the Chancellor [of Oxford University]: Lord Halifax, nearing eighty now, and bent beneath the weight of his years and his robe of office. 2007 J. S. BORTHWICK Foiled Again 254 He was clothed in an academic robe with black velvet arm stripes.

    b. In pl. in same sense.
  Master, Mistress, Yeoman of the Robes: see the first element.

1445 tr. Claudian's De Consulatu Stilichonis in Anglia (1905) 28 259 He lyst be mevid to clothe him in his roobys..as consulers vsid before. ?a1475 Ludus Coventriae 153 Now I regne..Rollyd in rynggys and robys of array. a1500 (?c1450) Merlin (1899) 110 First hadde Arthur the kynge put on hym an habergon vndir his robes. 1526 W. BONDE Pylgrimage of Perfection III. sig. GGGiiii^v, Though the kynge were before hym in his robes of golde. 1582 A. GOLDING tr. Ioyful & Royal Entertainment Frauncis Frenche Kings only Brother sig. D2, His highnesse was yet still in his robes of estate. 1605 J. SYLVESTER tr. O. de la Noue Profit of Imprisonment in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. 645 Their garments passe..The glorious Salomon's rich robes of Parlament. 1631 J. WEEVER Anc. Funerall Monuments 309 Inuested in the sanctimonious robes of a Bishop. 1671 MILTON Paradise Regain'd IV. 64 Pretors, Proconsuls to thir Provinces Hasting or on return, in robes of State. a1715 BP. G. BURNET Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 499 He put on his robes in hast,..and called up the Commons. 1769 W. JONES Seven Fountains in Poems (1777) 35 Accept the robes and sceptre of the land. 1832 G. DOWNES Lett. from Continental Countries I. 248 The senators and magistrates of Rome appear clad in the ecclesiastical robes of the period, in which the manuscript was written. 1874 L. J. KENNAWAY Crusts 29 The Bishop wore his robes with all dignity. 1900 Harper's Weekly 24 Mar. 269/3 He was leaving after dinner, dressed as usual in his long embroidered official robes, with his button and his peacock-feather. 1956 Times 14 Apr. 5/3 It is impossible not to notice on the wall a picture of the Queen in her Coronation robes. 2005 J. BRADY Bleedout (2008) 412 A proud college graduate in mortarboard and robes.

    3. fig. and in figurative contexts. Something likened to a robe in form or function.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig. A. 11) (1887) l. 6390 A robe he let him ssape uerst of blod red scarlet ere: e ssarpe stones bi e stret is tailors were, Vor he let him mid hors to drawe fram strete to strete. c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 103 erfore modur, loue ou penaunce, and kep wel hereaftir e furste robe of innocence unfouled. c1450 (c1400) Bk. Vices & Virtues (Huntington) 253 is robe [sc. Virginity] scholde be wel y-kepte from re spottes: of file of ere, of blod, and of fier. a1500 in H. A. Person Cambr. Middle Eng. Lyrics (1953) 48 With robys of rethoryk sith thow art not clad But with rusty roset like to thyn astate. 1528 R. COPLAND tr. Secrete of Secretes of Arystotle sig. f.i, Medowes..sprowte and corne groweth, &..byrdes ben clothed with newe robes, and enforce them to synge. 1598 SHAKESPEARE Henry IV, Pt. 1 V. i. 12 You haue..made vs doffe our easie roabes of peace. 1611 Bible (A.V.) Isa. lxi. 10 He hath couered me with the robe of righteousnes. a1649 W. DRUMMOND Poems (1656) 110 The Moone..Impearling with her Teares her Robe of Night. 1697 W. DAMPIER New Voy. around World vii. 165 In a weeks time the Tree casts off her old Robes, and is cloathed in a new pleasant garb. 1727 J. THOMSON Summer 15 Prime Chearer, Light!.. Nature's resplendent Robe. 1795 S. T. COLERIDGE To Author of Poems 36 With stars, unseen before, spangling her robe of night! 1837 J. H. NEWMAN Parochial Serm. I. xxvi. 398 Surely these attainments are but our first manly robe. 1864 TENNYSON Aylmer's Field 158 Another [cottage] wore A close-set robe of jasmine. 1920 J. BRETT Hidden Sanctuary I. 29 No imaginary robe should invest the soul, but only the precious robes of the virtues, and over all the mantle of humility 1967 I. H. BARTLETT Amer. Mind Mid-19th Cent. iv. 76 Lincoln believed that the American robe was trailing in the dust and he sought to repurify it in the spirit of the Revolution. 2002 N. TOSCHES In Hand of Dante 168 The robe of his own life and soul had been singed..by this idiot pyre.

    4. In metonymic use.

    a. Esp. in of-phrases. A profession or office in which a robe is worn. See also LONG ROBE n.

    (a) With determiner or possessive adjective. Obs.

1536 in Lett. & Papers Henry VIII (1888) (modernised text) XI. 561 As a council is to be held of nobles and gentlemen of both robes. 1622 BACON Hist. Raigne Henry VII (1876) 127 He sent..commissioners of both robes, the prior of Lanthony to be his chancellor..; and Sir Edward Poynings..with a civil power of his lieutenant. 1672 A. MARVELL Rehearsal Transpros'd I. 282 There was a gentleman of your robe a Dignitary of Lincoln. 1711 R. STEELE Spectator No. 157. 6 Our learned Men of either Robe. 1842 R. VAUGHAN Eng. Nonconformity (1862) II. viii. 327 The next day, it was resolved that all the members of the house of both robes should be added to this committee.

    (b) With the. Now hist.
  Chiefly with reference to the legal profession.

1662 R. L'ESTRANGE Memento I. 172 As I Reckon These Men of the Robe to be the very Pests of Humane Nature, when they Degenerate from the Prime End of their Institution. 1671 Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 497 Mr. Commartin..is a man of the robe, but in very good esteem with everybody. 1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. I. 36 He was a son of the Robe; his Father having been a Judge in the Court of the Common Pleas. 1706 tr. J. B. Morvan de Bellegarde Refl. upon Ridicule 109 The most eminent Persons of the Robe. 1770 S. FOOTE Lame Lover III. 58, I was some years in the Temple; but the death of my brother robb'd the robe of my labours. 1837 T. CARLYLE French Revol. I. III. iii. 102 Men of the sword, men of the robe; Peers, dignified clergy, Parlementary Presidents. 1849 THACKERAY Pendennis (1850) I. xxix. 284 The cadets of many of our good families follow the robe as a profession. 1907 Columbia Law Rev. 7 341 If the balance of political power were confided to the judiciary, we would be subjected to a veritable aristocracy of the robe. 1962 L. EDWARDS tr. J. Pirenne Tides of Hist. I. I. vi. 63 A new nobility of the robe..was created to counterbalance the ancient military and landowning nobility. 2002 C. JONES Great Nation ii. 39 Members of the Robe sat alongside members of the old Sword nobility.

    b. People of high rank or office collectively (in quots. contrasted with rag). Also with the. Obs. rare.

1589 W. WARNER Albions Eng. (new ed.) VI. xxxiii. 145 So plagueth ciuile Warre, and so from Robe to Ragge dooth scoure. 1816 London Rev. Oct. 344/2, I am addressing men who will not prostrate their consciences before privilege or power..who will feel that, as in the eye of that God to whose aid they have appealed, there is not the minutest difference between the rag and the robe

    5. Chiefly N. Amer. The dressed skin or skins of an animal used as a garment, blanket, or similar covering.

1761 tr. P. de Charlevoix Jrnl. Voy. N. Amer. I. 157 The green beaver are such as have been worn by the Indians, who, after having well tawed them on the inside..sew several of them together, making a sort of garment, which they call a robe. 1801 W. SOMERVILLE Jrnl. 29 Nov. in Narr. Journeys Eastern Cape Frontier (1979) iv. 126 The Booshwanha shield is very small but to supply the deficiency of its size he wears in battle his skin robe folded together several times over his shoulders as a protection to that part. 1848 J. R. BARTLETT Dict. Americanisms (at cited word), A pack of robes, is ten skins, tied in a pack, which is the manner in which they are brought from the far West to market. 1892 W. PIKE Barren Ground N. Canada 106 The robes were in splendid condition; the undergrowth, which resembles a sheep's fleece.., was now thick and firm. 1932 J. G. NEIHARDT Black Elk Speaks ix. 125 He had on a spotted war bonnet and a spotted robe made of some animal's skin. 1992 A. W. ECKERT Sorrow in our Heart iv. 273 Well-tanned buckskin and elkhide, buffalo robes and great heavy bearskins.

    6. a. A long outer garment for a baby.

1799 S. LEE Clergyman's Tale in H. Lee Canterbury Tales III. 383 She had teased her godmother out of almost a whole piece of cambric to dress her doll, in hopes that it would make a robe for the baby. 1851 Catal. Great Exhib. 561 Polkas, veils, berthes, handkerchiefs, sleeves, baby's robes, robings. 1872 ‘G. ELIOT’ Middlemarch III. lviii. 278 Her baby had been born prematurely, and all the embroidered robes and caps had to be laid by in darkness. 1909 Daily Chron. 18 Nov. 7/1 Brief drawing-room appearances in a nurse's arms with robes and tie-upsblue for a boy, pink for a girl. 1982 Time 5 July 27/2 The baby Prince is expected to wear a robe of Honiton lace, made originally for Edward VII's christening in 1842. 2008 Atlanta Jrnl.-Constit. (Nexis) 22 May (Homestyle section) 1 Soft minky, which often is used for baby blankets and robes.

    b. A dressing gown or bath robe. Now chiefly N. Amer.
  Recorded earliest in dressing robe.

1812 A. DOHERTY Castles of Wolfnorth & Mont Eagle II. vi. 182 As Sir Philip sat wrapt in these ruminations, a light step was heard, and Stanley entered in his dressing robe. 1854 DICKENS Hard Times II. viii. 223 She arose, put on a loose robe, and went out of her room in the dark. 1900 St. Nicholas Mar. 405/1 Getting quickly out of bed, she..drew on the pink eider-down bedroom robe which lay upon the chair beside her. 1938 M. ALLINGHAM Fashion in Shrouds vi. 73 ‘Robe's’ the new name for dressing-gown. 1970 G. F. NEWMAN Sir, You Bastard viii. 246 Tying his robe, he stepped out and along to the kitchen. 2000 D. F. WALLACE Brief Interviews with Hideous Men 266 If the bell rang..she would hear it and be out of bed and off down the hall without even putting on her robe.

    7. A piece of material partly shaped for a woman's dress. Obs.

1899 World of Dress Jan. 3 (advt.) White and cream lace robes in enormous variety, from 69/6 to 26 Guineas, the complete dress.

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    COMPOUNDS

    C1. General attrib. and objective, as robe-cloak, robe maker, robe-spinning, robe-tearing, etc.

1605 J. SYLVESTER tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. II. i. 361 The shining wooll Whence the roab-spinning precious Wormes are full. 1714 A. SMITH Hist. Lives Highway-men 268 Said he to the Robe-maker, I doubt it is too short? 1755 J. KIDGELL Card II. 205 Dr. Elwes himself was..cloathed in ecclesiastical Apparel neat and entire from the Robe-maker's. 1831 J. MACDONALD in Life (1849) III. 174 A species of religious robe-tearing. 1851 Punch 21 122/1 She..had employed him as a foreman in the robe-making business. 1908 G. B. SHAW Lett. to Granville Barker (1956) 139, I have persuaded her to be discovered next time in a robe-cloak. 1971 C. MAJOR Black Slang 110 The more orthodox robe-wearing Moslems of Harlem. 2005 L. J. FREEH My FBI vi. 157 He had kindly offered his robe maker in Minnesota to make my own first robe.

    C2. robe chamber n. now hist. a room used for changing into or for storing official robes; also fig.

1665 S. PEPYS Diary 23 June (1971) VI. 134 My Lord Sandwich did take me aside..in the *robe-chamber. 1755 J. WESLEY Jrnl. (1761) 23 Dec. X. 38, I was in the Robe-chamber, adjoining the House of Lords, when the King put on his robes. 1872 E. E. FORD My Recreations 46 When Death lays by the body's fleshly dress, A kingly servitor takes off our raiment, And in the grave's robe chamber, we make stayment. 1909 M. W. JACOBUS et al. Standard Bible Dict. 189/2 Kings and princes kept them [sc. festival robes] in a melthh, robe-chamber, or ‘wardrobe’. 2007 Guardian (London) (Nexis) 24 Nov., Our bedroom once saw service as Buckingham's robe chamber.

    robe coat n. now Sc. (north-east.) a type of sleeved dress, esp. one worn by girls or young women.
  Sc. National Dict. (1968) records this sense as still in use in Orkney and Shetland in 1968.

1756 Prater 4 Sept. 156, I have been trying and trying these seven years, ever since I was out of my *Robe-coat, to fix a man. 1797 C. LENNOX Hist. of Sir George Warrington v. 69 How angry I was with my aunt for keeping me in a robe coat, when, though your junior by a year or two, I thought myself as well entitled to a sacque. 1818 Robinson's Mag. 25 July 21/1 Young ladies wore robe-coats..which were a kind of slips that had an ornament of doubled silk, resembling the robe, depending from each shoulder. 1911 C. MACKENZIE Passionate Elopement xviii. 170 Swansdown misses..put into corsets almost as soon as they were out of robe-coats. 1964 New Shetlander No. 70. 27 She wuir a hap, rob cott an bratt.

    robe-goer n. Obs. a member of the English royal household charged with looking after the King's robes.

1701 in J. Redington Cal. Treasury Papers (1871) 529 *Robegoers [and] bedgoers. 1791 S. PEGGE Curialia: Pt. 3 88 Those who had the Care of the King's Robes on such occasions were called Robe-Goers. 1841 T F. HUNT Examplars of Tudor Archit. vi. 185 Other yeomen guarded the king's robes at his removals, and were therefore called Robe-Goers.

    robes-room n. Obs. rare = robing room n. at ROBING n. Compounds.

1686 Acct. 31 Dec. in Moneys Secret Services 1679-88 (1851) 146 In consideracion of his services and extraordinary attendances at the *robes-roome upon his said Majestie and the Privy Councill and Committees.

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