different between clothe vs unclothe

English

Etymology

From Middle English clothen, from Old English cl?þian (“to clothe”), from Proto-Germanic *klaiþ?n? (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to adhere to, stick”). Cognate with Dutch kleden, German kleiden, Swedish kläda, after apocope klä. See also cloth, clad.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kl??ð/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?klo?ð/
• Rhymes: -??ð

Verb

clothe (third-person singular simple present clothes, present participle clothing, simple past and past participle clothed or (archaic) clad)

1. (transitive) To adorn or cover with clothing; to dress; to supply clothes or clothing.
   • 1478, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, 101-104, [1]

     A YEMAN hadde he and servantz namo / At that tyme, for hym liste ride soo; / And he was clad in cote and hood of grene.
2. (figuratively) To cover or invest, as if with a garment.

   • language in which they can clothe their thoughts

   • 1726, John Dyer, Grongar Hill

     His sides are clothed with waving wood.

Synonyms

• (to adorn or cover with clothing): dight, don, put on; see also Thesaurus:clothe

Derived terms

• beclothe
• overclothe
• underclothe

Translations

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English cl?þ.

Noun

clothe

1. Alternative form of cloth

Etymology 2

From Old English cl?þian.

Verb

clothe

1. Alternative form of clothen

English

Etymology

From Middle English unclothen, equivalent to un- +? clothe.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??ð

Verb

unclothe (third-person singular simple present unclothes, present participle unclothing, simple past and past participle unclothed)

1. (transitive) To strip of clothes or covering; to make naked.
   • , 2 Corinthians, chapter 5

     For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Translations

References

• unclothe in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.