*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of gown

Etymology tree Proto-Slavic *gunader. Late Latin gunna Old French gounebor. Middle English gowne English gown From Middle English gowne, from Anglo-Norman goune, gune (“fur-trimmed coat, pelisse”), from Old French goune,

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
noun

A loose, flowing upper garment. · A woman's ordinary outer dress, such as a calico or silk gown. · The official robe of certain professionals, clerics, and scholars, such as university students and officers, barristers, judges, etc. · The dress of civil officers, as opposed to military officers.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Slavic *gunader. Late Latin gunna Old French gounebor. Middle English gowne English gown From Middle English gowne, from Anglo-Norman goune, gune (“fur-trimmed coat, pelisse”), from Old French goune, from Late Latin gunna (“leather garment, a fur”). Cognate with Manx gooyn, Irish gúna.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentiongowneenm
  • Derivation mentiongounefro
  • Cognate mentiongooyngv
  • Cognate mentiongúnaga

This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:gowne",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Slavic *gunader.\nLate Latin gunna\nOld French gounebor.\nMiddle English gowne\nEnglish gown\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Slavic\", \"term\" : \"*guna\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"sla-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Late Latin\", \"term\" : \"gunna\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la-lat\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"goune\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"gowne\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"gown\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"gown\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "gowne"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English gowne"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xno",
        "3": "goune"
      },
      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman goune"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "goune"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French goune"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "gunna",
        "t": "leather garment, a fur"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin gunna (“leather garment, a fur”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gooyn"
      },
      "expansion": "Manx gooyn"
    },
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      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gúna"
      },
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    },
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    }
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/guna"
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      "gunna",
      "gunna#Latin"
    ],
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      "goune",
      "goune#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "gowne",
      "gowne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "gowne",
      "gowne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "goune",
      "goune#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "gune",
      "gune#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "goune",
      "goune#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "gunna",
      "gunna#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "gooyn",
      "gooyn#Manx"
    ],
    [
      "gúna",
      "gúna#Irish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Bengali",
      "lang_code": "bn",
      "word": "গাউন",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "gaun"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Burmese",
      "lang_code": "my",
      "word": "ဂါဝန်",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "gawan"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "word": "ガウン",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Korean",
      "lang_code": "ko",
      "word": "가운",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "gaun"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Malay",
      "lang_code": "ms",
      "word": "gaun",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Punjabi",
      "lang_code": "pa",
      "word": "ਗਾਊਨ",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "gāūna"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "lang_code": "cy",
      "word": "gown",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A loose, flowing upper garment.",
        "A woman's ordinary outer dress, such as a calico or silk gown.",
        "The official robe of certain professionals, clerics, and scholars, such as university students and officers, barristers, judges, etc.",
        "The dress of civil officers, as opposed to military officers."
      ],
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "lexicalSenses": 4,
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  }
}

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
verb

To dress in a gown, to don or garb with a gown.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Slavic *gunader. Late Latin gunna Old French gounebor. Middle English gowne English gown From Middle English gowne, from Anglo-Norman goune, gune (“fur-trimmed coat, pelisse”), from Old French goune, from Late Latin gunna (“leather garment, a fur”). Cognate with Manx gooyn, Irish gúna.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentiongowneenm
  • Derivation mentiongounefro
  • Cognate mentiongooyngv
  • Cognate mentiongúnaga
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
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    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:gowne",
        "tree": "1"
      },
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    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
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      },
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    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xno",
        "3": "goune"
      },
      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman goune"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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      },
      "expansion": "Old French goune"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "gunna",
        "t": "leather garment, a fur"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin gunna (“leather garment, a fur”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gv",
        "2": "gooyn"
      },
      "expansion": "Manx gooyn"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gúna"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish gúna"
    },
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      "gunna",
      "gunna#Latin"
    ],
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      "goune",
      "goune#Old_French"
    ],
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      "gowne",
      "gowne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "gowne",
      "gowne#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "goune",
      "goune#Old_French"
    ],
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      "gune",
      "gune#Old_French"
    ],
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      "goune",
      "goune#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "gunna",
      "gunna#Latin"
    ],
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      "gooyn",
      "gooyn#Manx"
    ],
    [
      "gúna",
      "gúna#Irish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To dress in a gown, to don or garb with a gown."
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for gown →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Z293bg