nightclothesn.
/ˈnʌɪtkləʊ(ð)z/, U.S. /ˈnaɪtˌkloʊðz/ With plural agreement.† 2. Negligée or informal dress worn in the evening. Obsolete.
1. Clothes worn or intended to be worn in bed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific purpose > nightwear
night-gear1560
nightclothes1567
nightdress?c1663
bed-apparel1822
nightwear1886
sleeping-suit1897
slumberwear1909
sleep-wear1935
sleepsuit1958
1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis xi. f. 146 When shee no where could him fynd, shee gan her face too smyght, And tare her nyghtclothes from her brest.
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iii. ii. sig. E4v Tis not yet prowde day:..the vnpranked world Wears yet the night-cloathes.
1651 R. Verney in M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family Commonwealth (1894) ii. 38 2 Black Taffaty night-cloathes, with the Black night capps.
1674 A. Cremer tr. J. Scheffer Hist. Lapland 90 Besides these garments..they have also other which they use a nights, such as are called night-cloathes, for they have no feather beds.
1710 E. Freke Diary 11 Sept. in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1912) 18 96 A sute of Night Close..for her to Lye Inn In.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 266 Quite undress'd, with only Night-cloaths on my Head, and a loose Morning Gown wrapt about me.
1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) ii. 50 It was such an opperation..to get off some of my clothes, and to get on my night-clothes.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor vii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. III. 105 Here they found the unfortunate girl..her night-clothes torn and dabbled with blood.
1846 J. W. Carlyle Let. to T. Carlyle 23 Aug. Left me in total darkness,—to scramble into my night-clothes as I could.
1896 Daily News 17 Aug. 6/6 The bodies, which lay side by side in bed in night clothes, were in a composed attitude.
1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear i. iii. 42 He was clad only in a pink dressing-gown, which covered his night clothes.
1963 A. M. Louw 20 Days 212 I got such a fright,..I sommer ran out in my night-clothes.
1999 J. Raban Passage to Juneau vii. 409 The dazed crew and passengers struggled in their nightclothes to their muster-stations.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific purpose > informal wear > worn in the evening
night-dressing1578
nightclothes1667
1667 S. Pepys Diary 24 Dec. (1974) VIII. 589 My Lady Castlemayne, who looks prettily in her night-clothes.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 2. ⁋2 These Nightclothes, Moll, become thee mightily.
1737 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) II. 6 The suit of night-clothes I have pitched on for you are charming: it is grounded Brussels.
1751 Mem. Lady of Quality in T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle III. lxxxviii. 71 I dressed myself in a new pink sattin-gown and my best laced night-cloaths.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1567