clothe
v.v. to provide someone with clothes or to wear clothes. You use this when talking about dressing a person or a group of people.
v. to provide with clothing or to cover the body with garments. Transitive — requires a direct object, which is typically a person or a group.
The charity helps to clothe the homeless.
The school provides uniforms to ensure that every student is properly clothed for the day.
In many traditional cultures, the act of clothe is deeply symbolic, representing social status, religious affiliation, or the transition into a new life stage.
From Middle English clothen, from Old English clāþian (“to clothe”), from Proto-Germanic klaiþōną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to adhere to, stick”). Cognate with Dutch kleden, German kleiden, Swedish kläda, after apocope klä. See also cloth, clad.