Robe
Encyclopedia
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
. A robe is distinguished from a cape
Cape
Cape can be used to describe any sleeveless outer garment, such as a poncho, but usually it is a long garment that covers only the back half of the wearer, fastening around the neck. They were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon, and have had periodic...
or cloak
Cloak
A cloak is a type of loose garment that is worn over indoor clothing and serves the same purpose as an overcoat; it protects the wearer from the cold, rain or wind for example, or it may form part of a fashionable outfit or uniform. Cloaks are as old as human history; there has nearly always been...
by the fact that it usually has sleeve
Sleeve
Sleeve is that part of a garment which covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period...
s. The English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
word robe derives from Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
robe ("garment"), borrowed
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
from Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
robe ("booty, spoils"), itself taken from the Frankish
Old Frankish
Old Frankish is an extinct West Germanic language, once spoken by the Franks. It is the parent language of the Franconian languages, of which Dutch and Afrikaans are the most known descendants...
word *rouba ("spoils, things stolen, clothes"), and is related to the word rob. There are various types of robes, including:
- A gown worn as part of the academic regalia of faculty or students, especially for ceremonial occasions, such as a convocationConvocationA Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.- University use :....
s, congregations or graduationGraduationGraduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
s.
- A gown worn as part of the attire of a judgeJudgeA judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
or barristerBarristerA barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
.
- A wide variety of long, flowing religious dress including pulpit robes and the robes worn by various types of monkMonkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s.
- A gown worn as part of the official dress of a peerPeerageThe Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
or royaltyRoyal familyA royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
.
- Any of several women's fashions, as robe d'anglaise (18th century), "robe de styleRobe de styleThe Robe de style describes a style of dress popular in the 1920s as an alternative to the straight-cut chemise dress.The style was characterised by its full skirts. The bodice could be fitted, or straight-cut in the chemise manner, with a dropped waist, but it was the full skirt that denoted the...
" (1920s).
- A gown worn in fantasy literatureFantasy literatureFantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
and role-playing games by wizards and other magicalMagic (paranormal)Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
characterFictional characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s.
- An informal "house robe" worn chiefly in the home by women in the southeastern United States.
- An absorbent "bath robe" worn mostly after washing or swimming.
- One such example is a bathrobeBathrobeA bathrobe, dressing gown or housecoat is a robe. A bathrobe is usually made from towelling or other absorbent textile, and may be donned while the wearer's body is wet, serving both as a towel and an informal garment...
, a garment made of terryclothTerryclothThere are two types of terry fabrics# Towell Terry is a [woven] fabric with long loops that can absorb large amounts of water. Its content is usually 100% cotton, but may sometimes contain polyester....
or another towelTowelA towel is a piece of absorbent fabric or paper used for drying or wiping. It draws moisture through direct contact, often using a blotting or a rubbing motion. Common household textile towels are made from cotton, rayon, bamboo, nonwoven fibers or a few other materials.-Types of towels:* A bath...
-like material and is typically worn at home after a bathBathingBathing is the washing or cleansing of the body in a fluid, usually water or an aqueous solution. It may be practised for personal hygiene, religious ritual or therapeutic purposes or as a recreational activity....
or other activities where the wearer is nude to keep warm and/or preserve modestyModestyStandards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged....
in times of no immediate need to fully dress. (Also called a house coat.) See, for example, that worn by the fictional character Arthur DentArthur DentArthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
.
- One such example is a bathrobe
- (Informal usage) Any long flowing garment; for example, a cassockCassockThe cassock, an item of clerical clothing, is an ankle-length robe worn by clerics of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Church, Lutheran Church and some ministers and ordained officers of Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Ankle-length garment is the meaning of the...
is sometimes called a robe, despite the fact that the cassock is close-fitting.
See also
- AbayaAbayaThe abaya "cloak" , sometimes also called an aba, is a simple, loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, worn by some women in parts of the Islamic world including in Turkey, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula....
- KaftanKaftanA kaftan is a man's coat usually reaching to the ankles with long sleeves, and which buttons down the front. It can be made of wool, cashmere, silk, or cotton. It is often worn with a sash....
- Academic stoleAcademic stoleAn academic stole is a vestment used by various organizations to denote academic achievement. Its use includes membership of a professional organization, a high school valedictorian award, and adorns the academic regalia representing some university and college courses.A stole takes the form of a...
- ClothingClothingClothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
- Seamless robe of JesusSeamless robe of JesusThe Seamless Robe of Jesus is the robe said to have been worn by Jesus during his crucifixion...
- Biblical relic - Senegalese kaftanSenegalese kaftanA Senegalese kaftan is a pullover men's robe with long bell sleeves. In the Wolof language, this robe is called a mbubb and in French it is called a boubou. The Senegalese caftan is an ankle length garment. It is worn with matching drawstring pants called tubay. Normally made of cotton brocade,...
- The RobeThe Robe (film)The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
- film - Tricivara - Buddhist monastic robe