# garment

/ˈɡɑɹmənt/ (US) · /ɡˈɑːmənt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/garment
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. item of clothing

noun · CEFR B2 · Formal

a single piece of clothing.

For teachers: an individual item of apparel or clothing. Often used in technical contexts like manufacturing or formal descriptions.

- The shop sells high-quality silk garments at a very high price.
- The factory produces thousands of finished garments every day, which are then shipped to retailers across the continent.

Usage: Usually a countable noun; you can talk about 'a garment' or 'many garments'.

### 2. an outer covering

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary

the outside layer of something that covers it like clothes.

For teachers: the visible exterior or covering in which an abstract idea or object is invested or embodied.

- The hills were covered in a green garment of fresh grass.
- The poet described the city as being wrapped in a garment of mist, hiding the harsh reality of the industrial streets.

Teaching tip: This is a highly metaphorical use found mostly in poetry and older literature.

### 3. to clothe

verb · CEFR C2 · Literary · Archaic

to dress someone in a particular way.

For teachers: to clothe or invest someone in a specific garment or style of dress. Transitive — requires a direct object.

- The king was garmented in the finest purple robes for his crowning.
- The statues were garmented in heavy velvet for the winter festival, creating a strange and solemn atmosphere in the square.

## Examples

- She hung each garment carefully in the closet.
- The label on the garment provides specific instructions for washing and drying to prevent shrinking.
- The museum's textile collection includes several rare garments from the eighteenth century, preserved in climate-controlled glass cases to prevent the delicate silk from fraying.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.