Underdresses

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A type of garment typically worn beneath outer clothing for added coverage or warmth
2. A foundational piece of clothing that serves as a liner or support under dresses or skirts
3. An item of apparel designed to be discreetly worn under outer layers to enhance comfort or style

Etymology: The verb "underdress" is a plain compound: "under-" joined to "dress," so it means to dress less grandly than the occasion or company warrants, or to wear something beneath an outer layer. The "under-" prefix comes from Old English "under," which goes back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "below" or "among." "Dress" has a far longer journey, passing from Latin "dīrēctus," meaning "arranged straight" or "set in order," through Vulgar Latin and Old French "drecier" before reaching Middle English as "dressen." The Latin ancestor is the surprise here. Its sense of straightening or arranging things in a line shifted, in French, toward preparing or putting things in order, and eventually toward putting clothes on a person. So "dress" began as a word about making something straight, and only later came to mean clothing. "Underdresses" is simply the third-person singular present form of the verb, used with "she," "he," or "it," as in "she always underdresses for parties."

Synonyms: slips, petticoats, underskirts

Antonyms: overdresses