Clothing Meaning
/ˈkləʊðɪŋ/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbpresent participle and gerund of clothe
nounAny of a wide variety of articles, usually made of fabrics, animal hair, animal skin, or some combination thereof, used to cover the human body for warmth, to preserve modesty, or for fashion.
Sentence Examples
We provided the flood victims with food and clothing.
We have an oversupply of clothing.
Workers at the factory wear protective clothing.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The store sells outdoor ____ designed for extreme mountain conditions.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is important to wear warm ____ during the cold winter months.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English clothing, clathing; equivalent to clothe + -ing. Cognate with Scots cleeding, cleiding, cleading (“clothing”), Dutch kleding (“clothing”), German Kleidung (“clothing”), Danish klædning (“clothing, dress, attire”), Swedish klädning (“dress”). Doublet of the dialectal English term cleading, from Middle English clething; compare also cladding.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"From others he ſhall ſtand in need of nothing, / Yet on his Brothers ſhall depend for Cloathing."
— 1626 (date written), John Milton, “At a Vacation Exercise in the Colledge, […]”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], published 1673, →OCLC, page 67:
"[M]any of the poor diſtreſſed People, being bereft of their Habitation, came into England, vvhere the King, in Compaſſion of their Condition, and alſo, conſidering that they might be beneficial to his Subjects, by instructing them in the Art of Cloathing, firſt placed them about Carliſle in the North, and after removed them into South-VVales, vvhere their Poſterity hath ever ſince remained."
— a. 1706 (date written), John Ray, “[Discourse II. Of the General Deluge in the Days of Noah, Its Causes and Effects.] That there have been Great Changes Made in the Superficial Part of the Earth since the General Deluge, and by What Means.”, in Three Physio-theological Discourses, […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Innys, […], published 1713, →OCLC, pages 241–242:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The store sells outdoor ____ designed for extreme mountain conditions.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is important to wear warm ____ during the cold winter months.