LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
English → Latin

“dress” in Latin

The English word dress itself goes back to Latin regō, through *dīrēctiāre.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

dress
Clothes, [Vid: also, GARMENT]: a dress to wear in the house, vestis domestica (opposed to vestis forensis): not to put on the same dress a second time, non iterare vestem: silk dresses, serica, orum; bombycina, orum: a party-colored dress, vestis varia; vestimentum versicolor: to make a dress, vestem facere: nobody but a fool will judge of a man by his dress, stultissimus est, qui hominem aut ex veste aut ex conditione, quae vestis modo nobis circumdata est, aestimat (Sen., Ep., 47, 14); ladies’ dress, mundus muliebris: to adopt the Roman dress, Romano habitu uti: the whole nation has worn that dress ever since, quem morem vestis exinde gens universa tenet.
Splendid clothes, ornatus: vestis ornatus (general term, anything that may serve as ornament): ornamentum (as the means of beautifying): cultus (whatever serves the body as an external ornament): apparatus maguifici (splendid apparel or clothes); apparatus magnifici vitaeque cultus. Full dress, ornatus dierum sollemnium (garments or dress for particular occasions; e.g., Sunday dress); also vestis forensis; in full dress, praetextatus: over-smart or tawdry dress, cultus speciosior quam pretiosior: dissentiens a ceteris habitus: to be fond of dress, semper exornatum incedere (after Plaut., Epid., 2, 2, 42); semper nove vestitum esse (i. e., to be always dressed in the newest fashion): a person too fond of dress, qui nimio indulget vestitui; *cultus mollioris studiosus: to change one’s dress, calceos et vestimenta mutare (Cic., Mil., 10, 28).
dress
TRANS.,
To clothe, vestire: convestire (to furnish with a dress; then, also, to put on any covering): veste tegere (to cover with a dress): veste induere aliquem: vestem induere alicui (to clothe anybody with any dress): veste aliquem amicire (to cover anybody with, to wrap anybody up in anything; e.g., a cloak): to dress one’s self, induere sibi vestem or se veste: veste indui (to put on a dress); (veste) se amicire (to wrap one’s self up; e.g., in a cloak); calceos et vestimenta sumere (to put on one’s things or apparel); he used to dress himself without any assistance, et calceabat ipse sese et amiciebat (Suet., Vesp., 21). Dressed, indutus; vestitus: dressed in white, candide vestitus; albatus (in a festival garment, opposed to atratus, sordidatus, dressed in black).
To clothe elegantly, aliquem exornare, with anything, aliqua re (e.g., with a party-colored dress, varia veste).
To adorn, to deck, Vid:
To dress a wound, alligare, deligare, obligare vulnus; also praeligare (to tie in front): curare vulnus (general term, Liv.; ligare, in this meaning, is poetical).
MISCELLANEOUS PHRASES. To dress a garden, etc. [Vid. CULTIVATE, TILL]: to dress the ground for putting in the seed, agrum expedire sationibus or praeparare frumentis: to dress the hair, capillos comere; comam in gradus formare or frangere: to dress leather or hides, subigere: depsere: conficere: perficere: well-dressed skins, aluta tenuiter confecta: to dress hemp, hamis ferreis linum pectere: to dress a vine, vitem amputare, ligare (to prune and tie it up): to dress stones, saxa coaequare (Varr., ap., Non.). To dress a horse, strigili radere or subradere.
To prepare victuals for the table, cibum parare or comparare [Vid: To COOK]: to dress one’s own food, sibi manu sua parare cibum: dressed, coctus; igne mollitus (☞ not elixus, which means “boiled”); to use fire for dressing one’s food, uti igne ad mitigandum or ad molliendum cibum.
dress v.
INTR., vestiri, amiciri aliqua re: to dress like a Roman, Romano habitu uti: not to dress better than a slave, se non servo melius vestire (†): to order the people to dress in the same manner, eodem ornatu etiam populum vestiri jubere: the whole nation has dressed in the same style ever since, hunc morem vestis exinde gens universa tenet.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for dress?
The usual Latin words for “dress” are ōrnō, ōrnāmentum, colō; also sēricus, bombȳcinus, vestiō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.