Meaning of kirtle | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A knee-length tunic.
2. A short jacket.
3. A woman's gown; a woman's outer petticoat or skirt.

Equivalents

Examples

“All in a kirtle of diſcolourd ſay / He clothed was, ypaynted full of eies; / And in his boſome ſecretly there lay⟳ / An hatefull Snake, the which his taile vptyes / In many folds, and mortall ſting implyes.”

“Few words have⟳ occasioned such controversy among the commentators on our old plays, as this; and all for want⟳ of knowing that it is used in a two-fold sense⟳, sometimes for the jacket merely, and sometimes for the train⟳ or upper petticoat attached to it. A full kirtle was always a jacket and petticoat, a half kirtle (a term which frequently occurs) was either the one or the other; but our ancestors, who wrote when this article of dress was every where in use⟳, and when there was little danger of being misunderstood, most commonly contented themselves with the simple term, (kirtle,) leaving the sense⟳ to be gathered from the context.”

“Many of the church dignitaries are distinguishable by peculiarities of dress, as the shovel hat and kirtle.”

“Her eyes were large, and full of light⟳, / Her arms and neck were bare; / No garment she wore save⟳ a kirtle bright, / And her own⟳ long, raven hair.”

“KIRTLE, […] a Sort⟳ of ſhort Jacket.”

“A man's jacket was also called a kirtle.”

“Per[igot] VVell decked in a frocke of gray, / Wil[ly] hey ho, gray is greet⟳, / Per. And in a kirtle of green ſay, / [Wil.] the greene is for maydens meet⟳.”

“A cap of flowers, and a kirtle / Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;”

“Dol[l Tearsheet] I loue thee better than I loue thee, ere a ſcuruy yong boy of them all. / Fal[staff] What ſtuffe wilt haue a kirtle of? I ſhall receiue mony a thurſday, ſhalt haue a cap to morrow: […]”

“[Y]ou must cut⟳ these fine tresses close⟳ by your ears, your rich kirtle close⟳ by the knee: you must bear⟳ my bow and carry⟳ my arrows, ay, and be ready at once to go to the greenwood with one for whose head much gold is offered.”

“Around his waist was a kind of kirtle, the skin of some animal.”

“Janet tied her kirtle green, / Above her knee and not below / And she's gone to Carterhaugh / just as fast as she can go”

“Women, like⟳ men, also typically wore three layers of clothing. Women's underclothing consisted of a smock or chemise and hose. Next came a kirtle, a long garment originally with short or no sleeves, worn over the smock, chemise, and hose. Over time, kirtles became increasingly fitted, with ever-lengthening sleeves. Over kirtles, women wore a variety of outer tunics, such as the houppelande, or a sleeveless tabard or pelisse.”

CEFR level