dress

A1 Topic:Clothing & Appearance

US /drɛs/ UK /dɹes/ See IPA manual

Freq #929

Meanings

1

verb
To put clothes on yourself or someone else.

We had to dress quickly to catch the early bus.
2

verb
To wear a particular style or type of clothes.

They always dress in the latest fashion.
3

verb
To clean and cover a wound with a bandage.

The nurse dressed the cut on his arm.
4

adj
Requiring smart or formal clothes.

The invitation said it was a dress dinner.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to put clothes on yourself... get dressed

2 verb · to wear a particular style... dress up

4 adj · requiring smart or formal... formal

Word family

Forms dressesdressingoverdressed

Derived forms balldressbattledressbedressedcoatdressdress-goodsdress-outdressabledresscoatdressed dresserdressfuldressgate

Related forms dressageundressed

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

dress rehearsal
a complete practice performance using the costumes intended for the show

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

A bad dress rehearsal means a good performance

Etymology

PIE word *dwís The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *dīrēctiāre (“to guide, direct”), from Classical Latin dīrēctus, whence English direct. Further akin to Latin regō. The noun is derived from the verb. Compare typologically adorn (<< Latin ōrnō < ōrdō, whence also ōrdinō, English order, ornament); Russian наряжа́ть (narjažátʹ), наря́д (narjád) (akin to ряд (rjad), поря́док (porjádok)).

*h₃reǵ- Proto-Indo-European dressen Middle English dresser Old French *dīrēctiāre la-lat dīrēctus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Clothing & Appearance Register & Style

External links

# dress

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** verb, adj
**IPA (US):** /drɛs/
**IPA (UK):** /dɹes/
**Frequency rank:** 929

## Meanings
1. To put clothes on yourself or someone else.
2. To wear a particular style or type of clothes.
3. To clean and cover a wound with a bandage.
4. Requiring smart or formal clothes.

## Examples
- We had to dress quickly to catch the early bus.
- They always dress in the latest fashion.
- The nurse dressed the cut on his arm.
- The invitation said it was a dress dinner.

## Derived Forms
- balldress
- battledress
- bedressed
- coatdress
- dress-goods
- dress-out
- dressable
- dresscoat
- dressed
- dresser
- dressful
- dressgate

## Related Forms
- dressage
- undressed

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₃reǵ-
- Root: dressen
- Root: dresser
- Root: *dīrēctiāre
- Root: dīrēctus

## Etymology
PIE word *dwís The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *dīrēctiāre (“to guide, direct”), from Classical Latin dīrēctus, whence English direct. Further akin to Latin regō. The noun is derived from the verb. Compare typologically adorn (<< Latin ōrnō < ōrdō, whence also ōrdinō, English order, ornament); Russian наряжа́ть (narjažátʹ), наря́д (narjád) (akin to ряд (rjad), поря́док (porjádok)).

## AI Etymology
Dress: The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *dīrēctiāre (“to guide, direct”), from Classical Latin dīrēctus, whence English direct. Further akin to Latin regō. The noun is derived from the verb. Compare typologically adorn (<< Latin ōrnō < ōrdō, whence also ōrdinō, English order, ornament); Russian наряжа́ть (narjažátʹ), наря́д (narjád) (akin to ряд (rjad), поря́док (porjádok)).

## Topics
- Clothing & Appearance
- Register & Style

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