Enclothing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of dressing or covering oneself or someone else with clothing
2. The action of putting garments on a person to cover the body
3. The act of equipping a person by wearing or fitting clothes

Etymology: "Enclothing" is the present participle and gerund of "enclothe", a verb meaning to dress someone in garments. The verb is formed from the prefix "en-", which turns a noun or verb into one meaning "put into" or "cover with", and "clothe", so the whole thing amounts to putting clothes onto someone. "Clothe" itself descends from the Old English "clāthian", a verb built on the noun "clāth", meaning cloth. The pattern is a familiar one in English. Many verbs beginning with "en-" were formed by attaching the prefix to an existing word, such as "enrich" or "encage", and "enclothe" follows that model. Its meaning stays close to the physical act of wrapping someone in fabric, which is why it still sounds concrete even though the word is rarely used outside formal or literary writing.