raiment

noun

rai·​ment ˈrā-mənt 

1

chiefly literary : clothing, garments

… dressed in the raiment of Victorian gentlemen.

—Jerry Hopkins

The abbot of Landevenec, in his poor raiment, was not able to pass unnoticed among the people of Cornouaille, amply and richly dressed and coiffured with high headdresses.

—Charles Guyot

The scientists believe that robbers quickly stripped the dead queen of her raiment, dismembering her mummy as though it was some sort of pharaonic piñata.

—Ben Guarino

2

plural raiments, chiefly literary : an article of clothing : garment

… I tell thee, holy man, / Thy raiments and thy ebony cross affright me!

—Edgar Allen Poe

She … shed her bright colours and raiments and flower garlands …

—Jack London

For going to political rallies—or just heading out for a burger—T-shirts became the perfect two-in-one raiment.

—J. D. Reed

—sometimes used figuratively

A rainforest is resplendent in a raiment of green—the ground thick with ferns and shrubs, and moss dripping from tree limbs.

—Eric Noland

Did you know?

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").

Synonyms

• apparel
• attire
• clobber [British slang]
• clothes
• clothing
• costumery
• dress
• duds
• garments
• gear
• habiliment(s)
• habit [archaic]
• rags
• rig
• rigging
• threads
• toggery
• togs
• vestiary
• vestments
• vesture
• wear
• wearables
• weeds

Examples of raiment in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? —Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 29 Jan. 2024

What spirit are you, that walks this castle in such strange raiment? —Jay Martel, The New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2022

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, 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, 3 July 2018

The cabin at 11720 W. Howard Ave. was long ago enveloped in 20th century raiment. —Jane Ford-Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 31 Oct. 2017

The play is about history and war and catastrophe and love, domestic and otherwise, in its glittering raiments. —Cynthia Zarin, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2017

The group, now with a wealthy and aristocratic membership of elite Catholics who parade in ornate raiment, has more recently specialized in aiding refugees and the poor in more than 100 countries. —Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2017

The Young Pope, a traditionalist who, like Benedict XVI, clearly thinks the rich history of the church is reflected in its ornate raiment, really does it up in Episode 5. —Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Middle English rayment "clothing, adornment," aphetic variant of arayment, arrayment "preparation, equipment, furnishings, clothing," borrowed from Anglo-French arraiement "preparation, arrangement," from arraier, arreyer "to arrange, order, equip, attire, adorn" + -ment -ment — more at array entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

raiment

noun

rai·​ment ˈrā-mənt 

: clothing sense 1