Dressed

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈdɹɛst/

Definitions

1. Wearing clothes or apparel ; having a surface covered or adorned in some manner
2. Being clothed or put into garments ; having something added as a covering or ornament
3. Having clothing on the body ; appearing with a particular kind of covering or embellishment

Etymology: The verb "dress" meant "to arrange, put in order" long before it meant "to put clothes on." Middle English "dressen" came from Old French "dresser" and "drecier," which in turn came from a Late Latin verb "dīrēctiāre," meaning "to guide, direct." That Latin root is the same one behind English "direct," so the two words are close relatives. The idea underneath is straightening things out and setting them in line, and the sense of lining up soldiers, tools or a table came first. Clothing came later. Putting on garments was one more kind of arranging, so the sense of getting oneself or someone else into proper attire grew out of the older meaning of tidying and ordering. The same pattern shows up in other languages: the Latin verb "ōrnāre," "to adorn," is linked to "ōrdō," "order," and the Russian "naryazhát'," to dress, is tied to "ryad," a row or line. Dressed, then, is simply the past form of this verb, and its adjective sense, "clothed in garments," is the verb's later meaning carried over.

Synonyms: clothed, attired, garbed, arrayed, costumed

Antonyms: naked, undressed, bare, unclothed, exposed