VESTMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does vestment mean? 

• VESTMENT (noun)
  The noun VESTMENT has 1 sense:

1. gown (especially ceremonial garments) worn by the clergy

  Familiarity information: VESTMENT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VESTMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Gown (especially ceremonial garments) worn by the clergy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("vestment" is a kind of...):

gown; robe (outerwear consisting of a long flowing garment used for official or ceremonial occasions)

Meronyms (parts of "vestment"):

orphrey (a richly embroidered edging on an ecclesiastical vestment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vestment"):

alb (a white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves; worn by priests)

cassock (a black garment reaching down to the ankles; worn by priests or choristers)

chasuble (a long sleeveless vestment worn by a priest when celebrating Mass)

humeral veil; veil (a vestment worn by a priest at High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawl)

pallium ((Roman Catholic Church) vestment consisting of a band encircling the shoulders with two lappets hanging in front and back)

pontifical (the vestments and other insignia of a pontiff (especially a bishop))

surplice (a loose-fitting white ecclesiastical vestment with wide sleeves)

Derivation:

vest (clothe formally; especially in ecclesiastical robes)

vestmental (of or relating to or resembling a vestment)

 Context examples 

Aye, Jenkin, said another, our foeman is under the stole and the vestment as much as under the helmet and plate of proof.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Certain agents I found to have the power to shake and pluck back that fleshly vestment, even as a wind might toss the curtains of a pavilion.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)