costume definition

English costume definition

Etymology

PIE word
*ḱóm

PIE word
*swé

From Middle English costume, custume, from Old French costume, custume, from Italian costume, from a Vulgar Latin *cōnsuētūmen or *costūmen, from Latin cōnsuētūdinem, accusative singular of cōnsuētūdō (“custom, habit”), from cōnsuēscō (“accustom, habituate”), from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed to”). First element con- derives from cum, from Old Latin com, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, along”). Second element suēscō is from Proto-Indo-European *swe-dʰh₁-sk-, from *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”); related to Latin suus (“one's own, his own”). Doublet of consuetude and custom, which shares most of this etymology.

Verb circa 1823.

Pronunciation

• (UK, noun, verb) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒs.tjuːm/, /ˈkɒs.t͡ʃuːm/
• (General American, noun) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑsˌt(j)um/, /ˈkɑsˌt͡ʃum/, /ˈkɑs.tʊm/, /ˈkɑs.təm/
• (General American, verb) IPA^(key): /kɑsˈt(j)um/, /kɑsˈt͡ʃum/, /ˈkɑsˌt(j)um/, /ˈkɑsˌt͡ʃum/, /ˈkɑs.tʊm/, /ˈkɑs.təm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

costume (countable and uncountable, plural costumes)

1. A style of dress, including garments, accessories and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period or people.
   • 2019, Krissy Aguilar, “Liza Soberano Apologizes for Comments on ‘Black Face’”, in Philippine Daily Inquirer:

     The apology came after a netizen claimed Soberano was supposedly doing a black face, but the latter said, in defense, it was just a “costume.”

2. An outfit or a disguise worn as fancy dress etc.

   We wore gorilla costumes to the party.

3. A set of clothes appropriate for a particular occasion or season.

   The bride wore a grey going-away costume.

Usage notes

• Despite the meaning "traditional clothes," costume may be considered pejorative by some cultures as a reference to their own traditional dress, owing to interference from the sense "fancy dress, disguise" (such as if their traditional dress has often been appropriated by others as fancy dress). For example, many Indigenous North Americans disfavour the term costume to refer to their traditional and ritual garments and prefer the term regalia.

Synonyms

• getup
• outfit

Derived terms

Related terms

• customary
• custom

Translations

See also

• uniform

Verb

costume (third-person singular simple present costumes, present participle costuming, simple past and past participle costumed)

1. To dress or adorn with a costume or appropriate garb.
   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XVIII

     Seated on the carpet, by the side of this basin, was seen Mr. Rochester, costumed in shawls, with a turban on his head. His dark eyes and swarthy skin and Paynim features suited the costume exactly. He looked the very model of an Eastern emir, an agent or a victim of the bowstring.

   • 1942 March, “Notes and News: Monument to a Stillborn Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 88:

     "The Chengtu revolutionaries were fantastically colourful in the Szechwanese manner—they costumed themselves as heroes of the stage and their energies were chiefly occupied in tying ropes across the main streets so that when Imperial officials rode by in their litters they would have to get down and crawl under, losing face.

Translations

Further reading

• costume in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• costume in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• custome

---

French costume definition

Etymology

PIE word
*ḱóm

PIE word
*swé

Borrowed from Italian costume, from a Vulgar Latin *cōnsuētūmen or *costūmen, from Latin cōnsuētūdinem, accusative singular of cōnsuētūdō (“custom, habit”), from cōnsuēscō (“accustom, habituate”), from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed to”). First element con- derives from cum, from Old Latin com, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, along”). Second element suēscō is from Proto-Indo-European *swe-dʰh₁-sk-, from *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”); related to Latin suus (“one's own, his own”). Doublet of coutume. Cognate with English costume and custom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔs.tym/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

costume m (plural costumes)

1. a style of dress characteristic of a particular country, period or people
2. an outfit or a disguise worn as fancy dress
3. a set of clothes appropriate for a particular occasion or task
4. a suit worn by a man

Related terms

• coutume

Descendants

• → German: Kostüm
  • → Estonian: kostüüm
• → Romanian: costum
• → Russian: костю́м (kostjúm)
  • → Azerbaijani: kostyum
  • → Armenian: կոստյում (kostyum)
  • → Georgian: კოსტიუმი (ḳosṭiumi)
  • → Kazakh: костюм (kostüm)
  • → Kyrgyz: костюм (qostyum)
  • → Latvian: kostīms
  • → Lithuanian: kostiumas
  • → Mongolian: костюм (kostyum)
  • → Turkmen: kostýum
  • → Uzbek: kostyum
  • → Yakut: көстүүм (köstüüm)
• → Turkish: kostüm

Verb

costume

1. inflection of costumer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “costume”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

---

Galician costume definition

Alternative forms

• custume

Etymology

PIE word
*ḱóm

PIE word
*swé

From Old Galician and Old Portuguese costume, custume (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria); from Vulgar Latin *costūmen, *cōnsuētūmen, or *costūmen, from Latin cōnsuētūdinem, accusative singular of cōnsuētūdō (“custom, habit”), from cōnsuēscō (“accustom, habituate”), from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed to”). First element con- derives from cum, from Old Latin com, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, along”). Second element suēscō is from Proto-Indo-European *swe-dʰh₁-sk-, from *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”); related to Latin suus (“one's own, his own”). Cognate with Portuguese costume, French coutume, and Spanish costumbre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kosˈtumɪ]

Noun

costume m (plural costumes)

1. custom; tradition (traditional practice or behavior)

   Synonym: tradición

2. custom; habit (action done on a regular basis)
   • 1326, A. López Ferreiro (ed.), Fueros municipales de Santiago y de su tierra. Madrid: Ediciones Castilla, page 398:

     mandamos que enna friigesía que ouuer XV friigeses ou mays poucos, se non tomaren lobo ou loba ou camada delles, ou non correren cada domaa con elles sen enganno segundo que e de custume des o primeyro sabado de quaresma ata dia de Sam Joham de Juyo, ou non fezeren o ffogio, que pagen X mrs.

     We order that in the parish that has 15 parishioners or more, if they don't catch a wolf or litter of them, or if they don't raid them weekly without trickery, as it is used, since the first Saturday of Lent till Saint John's day in June, or if they don't build the pit, then they shall pay 10 mrs.

   Synonyms: hábito, uso

3. (law) custom (long-established practice, considered as unwritten law)
   • 1389, Enrique Cal Pardo (ed.), Colección diplomática medieval do arquivo da catedral de Mondoñedo. Santiago: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 206:

     que ouuo senpre de custume de non meter vinno de fora parte en esta vila et saluo que os visinnos da villa ouueren de sua lauoria et sua marra

     because it was the custom of this town not to introduce wine from the outside, except if the neighbours needed it and lacked it

References

• “costume” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “costume” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “costume” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “costume” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “costume” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

---

Italian costume definition

Etymology

PIE word
*ḱóm

PIE word
*swé

From a Vulgar Latin *cōnsuētūmen or *costūmen, from Latin cōnsuētūdinem, accusative singular of cōnsuētūdō (“custom, habit”), from cōnsuēscō (“accustom, habituate”), from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed to”). First element con- derives from cum, from Old Latin com, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, along”). Second element suēscō is from Proto-Indo-European *swe-dʰh₁-sk-, from *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”); related to Latin suus (“one's own, his own”). Doublet of the borrowed consuetudine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koˈstu.me/
• Rhymes: -ume
• Hyphenation: co‧stù‧me

Noun

costume m (plural costumi)

1. a custom, habit

   Synonyms: usanza, uso, abitudine

2. a costume
3. a swimsuit

   Synonym: costume da bagno

Derived terms

• costume da bagno
• costume nazionale
• costumista
• in costume adamitico

Descendants

• → French: costume

Anagrams

• mescuto

---

Old French costume definition

Alternative forms

• coustume
• custume

Etymology

PIE word
*ḱóm

PIE word
*swé

Related to Old French coustume, from a Vulgar Latin *cōnsuētūmen or *costūmen, from Latin cōnsuētūdinem, accusative singular of cōnsuētūdō (“custom, habit”), from cōnsuēscō (“accustom, habituate”), from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed to”). First element con- derives from cum, from Old Latin com, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, along”). Second element suēscō is from Proto-Indo-European *swe-dʰh₁-sk-, from *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”); related to Latin suus (“one's own, his own”).

Noun

costume m (oblique plural costumes, nominative singular costumes, nominative plural costume)

1. custom
   • circa 1200, author unknown, Aucassin et Nicolette

     il n'est mie costume que nos entrocions li uns l'autre.

     it is not our habit to kill each other.

Descendants

• English: costume, custom
• French: costume, coutume

---

Portuguese costume definition

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kuʃ.ˈtu.mɨ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kos.ˈtu.mi/, /kus.ˈtu.mi/
• Hyphenation: cos‧tu‧me

Etymology 1

PIE word
*ḱóm

PIE word
*swé

From Old Portuguese costume, custume, from Vulgar Latin *cōstūmen, *cōnsuētūmen, or *costūmen, from Latin cōnsuētūdinem, accusative singular of cōnsuētūdō (“custom, habit”), from cōnsuēscō (“accustom, habituate”), from con- (“with”) + suēscō (“become used or accustomed to”). First element con- derives from cum, from Old Latin com, from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, along”). Second element suēscō is from Proto-Indo-European *swe-dʰh₁-sk-, from *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”); related to Latin suus (“one's own, his own”).

Noun

costume m (plural costumes)

1. custom; tradition (traditional practice or behavior)

   O costume de trazer um pinheiro para dentro de casa durante o Natal.

   The custom of bringing a pine tree inside the house during Christmas.

   Synonym: tradição

2. custom; habit (action done on a regular basis)

   Temos o costume de comer pão toda manhã.

   We have the habit of eating bread every morning.

   Synonym: hábito

3. (law) custom (long-established practice, considered as unwritten law)
4. outfit; costume (a set of clothes appropriate for a particular activity)

   Synonym: traje

Alternative forms

• custume (obsolete, now eye dialect)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:costume.

Derived terms

• costumar
• costumeiro

Etymology 2

Verb

costume

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of costumar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of costumar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of costumar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of costumar

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:costumar.

Further reading

• “costume” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

---

Romanian costume definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kos.ˈtu.me/

Noun

costume n pl

1. plural of costum