# apparel

Pronunciation: say "uh-PA-ruhl" /əˈpæ.ɹəl/

## Noun

1. Clothing, especially the items people wear on the body.
   - Simple: Clothes that people wear.
   - _The company designs athletic apparel for professional runners._
   - _Guests must wear formal apparel to the evening reception._
3. The outward aspect, guise, or form in which something appears.
   - Simple: The outer look or form that something seems to take.
   - _Autumn clothed the valley in the golden apparel of turning leaves._
   - _His kind words were merely the apparel of a selfish plan._
6. A small ornamental piece of embroidery worn on albs and certain other church vestments.
   - Simple: A small decorated piece of embroidery sewn onto a priest's robe.
   - _The sacristan repaired the worn apparel on the deacon's alb._
   - _Medieval albs often featured apparels at the cuffs and lower hem._
7. The equipment of a ship, such as its masts, sails, rigging, anchors, and guns.
   - Simple: All the gear a ship needs, such as its sails, ropes, and anchors.
   - _The inventory listed the vessel's apparel down to the last coil of rope._
   - _Salvagers recovered the wreck's apparel from the seabed._

## Verb

2. To dress or clothe someone; to attire.
   - Simple: To put clothes on someone.
   - _Servants would apparel the queen in silk before each audience._
   - _The costume team apparels each actor in period dress._
4. To dress something with external ornaments; to cover it with decoration.
   - Simple: To cover something with pretty decorations.
   - _Craftsmen apparel the shrine with gold leaf and carved panels._
   - _The decorators appareled the ballroom with garlands of ivy._
5. To furnish something with equipment; to fit it out for use.
   - Simple: To give something the tools or gear it needs to work.
   - _Shipwrights apparel the vessel with masts, sails, and rigging._
   - _The expedition appareled its base camp with radios and generators._

## Origin

From Old French "apareillier." It is a doublet of "parrel."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/apparel (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).