Tunic

Tunic

Noun · /ˈtjuːnɪk/ · a loose garment reaching the thighs or knees; a modern top shaped like one

Definition

A tunic is a loose garment, typically without sleeves or with short sleeves, reaching to the thighs or knees. Historically, it was the basic everyday garment of ancient Greece and Rome. In modern fashion, a tunic is a long top — often belted or worn loose — that extends below the hip, typically paired with leggings or trousers. In some professions, a tunic is part of a uniform: nurses, soldiers, and police officers have worn tunics as formal upper garments.

Origin

From Latin tunica — a Roman undergarment worn close to the body beneath the toga. The Latin word may derive from a Semitic root, possibly related to Phoenician or Hebrew kuttoneth, meaning a linen garment. The tunic was the universal everyday garment of the ancient Mediterranean world — worn by men and women, slaves and senators, soldiers and scholars. Through Latin it passed into Old French, then into Middle English as tunique, settling into the modern form tunic.