1 raiment | Definition of raiment

raiment

noun
rai·​ment | \ ˈrā-mənt How to pronounce raiment (audio) \

Definition of raiment

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Get Fancy and Define Raiment

If you seek a fancy word to describe the clothes on your back, you have no shortage of colorful options. There's "apparel" and "attire," certainly, as well as "garments." "Habiliments" and "vestments" suggest clothes of a particular profession (as in "a clergyman’s vestments"), while "garb" is effective for describing clothes of a particular style (as in "traditional Scottish garb"). If slang is more your game, try "duds," "rags," or "threads." "Raiment" tends to appear mostly in classical contexts, though it pops up from time to time in contemporary English from authors looking to add a touch of formality. Raiment derives from Middle English, where it was short for "arrayment," from the verb "arrayen" ("to array").

Examples of raiment in a Sentence

the prince exchanged his silken raiment for the pauper's humble homespun

Recent Examples on the Web

Thousands of miles to the south, Inca rulers controlled as many as 37 million people, enriched by such abundance that the nobility clothed themselves in gilded raiments and decorated their homes with gold and silver ornaments. Tom Gjelten, Washington Post, "In Latin America, colonialism’s violent, seemingly inescapable legacy," 23 Aug. 2019 Two of the giants on display, topped with gold crowns and clad in flowing red and deep green raiment, are region-specific. Ryan P. Smith, Smithsonian, "For Hundreds of Years, Papier-Mâché Has Lent a Surreal Face to Catalan Culture," 3 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'raiment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of raiment

15th century, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for raiment

Middle English rayment, short for arrayment, from arrayen to array

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More Definitions for raiment

raiment

noun
rai·​ment | \ ˈrā-mənt How to pronounce raiment (audio) \

Kids Definition of raiment

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More from Merriam-Webster on raiment

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with raiment

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for raiment

Spanish Central: Translation of raiment

Nglish: Translation of raiment for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of raiment for Arabic Speakers

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