dressing gownn.
/ˈdrɛsɪŋ ˌɡaʊn/, U.S. /ˈdrɛsɪŋ ˌɡaʊn/ Originally: a loose, informal gown worn as a form of partial dress, as when washing, arranging the hair, applying make-up, etc. Now spec.: a long open robe, usually with a belt, typically worn before getting dressed in the morning, after getting undressed in the evening, or after bathing.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > loose clothing > robe or gown > types of > dressing gown
gown1600
robe de chambre1687
dressing gown1699
robe1812
Schlafrock1836
1699 R. L'Estrange Fables Moralized ccxxxii. 115 He went commonly in such a Dressing-Gown, with a White Wand in one hand, and a Dark-Lanthorn in the other.
1780 J. P. Kemble Fugitive Pieces 40 Pasithea reach my dressing-gown, Thalia take my toupée down.
1847 J. W. Carlyle Let. 16 Sept. in Coll. Lett. T. & J. W. Carlyle (1995) XXII. 75 I was sitting at breakfast in my dressing-gown.
1896 ‘Iota’ Quaker Grandmother xxiv. 280 She put the key into her dressing-gown pocket.
1910 Granta 11 June 10 I rose, put on a dressing-gown..and went upstairs.
1971 ‘E. Ferrars’ Stranger & Afraid x. 154 She's had a habit..of getting up quietly and going wandering about the house in her dressing-gown.
2008 ‘R. Keeland’ tr. S. Larsson Girl with Dragon Tattoo xvii. 279 He was in his pyjamas and a brown dressing gown, leaning on a cane.
Derivatives
ˈdressing-gowned adj. wearing a dressing gown.
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1849 New Monthly Mag. & Humorist Nov. 345 He found his host sitting in an arm-chair over the study fire, dressing-gowned and slippered.
1952 ‘R. Gordon’ Doctor in House xi. 119 Two up-patients, dressing-gowned old gentlemen.
1999 C. Messud in Granta Summer 172 Slit-eyed with sleep, dressing-gowned, illicitly barefoot, I muttered a greeting and drifted past him to the kitchen.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1699