Attifer

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To dress someone up in clothing, especially in an elaborate or fussy manner
2. To array a person in garments and ornaments, often with great care over appearance
3. To clothe or deck out a figure in finery, usually in an old-fashioned or showy way

Etymology: In Old French, "atifier" meant to adorn or deck someone out. It combined the prefix "a-" ("to") with "tifer," a root whose ultimate origin is uncertain. English borrowed the verb from that French word, keeping its sense of decorating someone lavishly rather than simply putting on clothes. Its relative "attire" shares the same "a-" prefix and a similar sense of decking out, but its root is a different French word meaning order or row. Two French verbs of adornment thus reached English along separate routes.

Synonyms: dress, attire, array, bedeck, garb

Antonyms: undress, strip