long, loose outer garment, c. 1300, from Old French goune "robe, coat; (nun's) habit, gown," related to Late Latin gunna "leather garment, skin, hide," of unknown origin. Used by St. Boniface (8c.) for a fur garment permitted for old or infirm monks. Klein writes that it is probably "a word adopted from a language of the Apennine or the Balkan Peninsula." OED points to Byzantine Greek gouna, a word for a coarse garment sometimes made of skins, but also notes "some scholars regard it as of Celtic origin."
In 18c., gown was the common word for what now usually is styled a dress. It was maintained more in the U.S. than in Britain, but was somewhat revived 20c. in fashion senses and in combinations (such as bridal gown, nightgown). Meaning "flowing robe worn on official occasions as a badge of office or authority" is from late 14c. As collective singular for "residents of a university" (1650s) it typically is used in rhyming opposition to town.
雙語例句
1. She crept from the bed and fumbled for her dressing gown.
她從床上躡手躡腳地爬起來，摸索著自己的晨衣。
來自柯林斯例句
2. I was shoehorning myself into my skin-tight ball gown.
我正拼命把自己塞進我的緊身晚禮服里。
來自柯林斯例句
3. Wood was now comfortably enfolded in a woolly dressing-gown.
伍德正舒服地穿著件羊毛晨衣。
來自柯林斯例句
4. Her gown was thin, and she shivered, partly from cold.
她的禮服很薄，渾身在發(fā)抖，一半是凍的。
來自柯林斯例句
5. She finally found the perfect gown, a beautiful creation trimmed with lace.