Wardrobe

How to spell wardrobe

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce wardrobe

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does wardrobe mean?

1. nounA tall cupboard or cabinet in which clothes are hung and stored.
2. nounThe entire collection of clothes that a person owns.
3. nounThe department or staff responsible for costumes in a theatre or film production.

Wardrobe in a sentence

• He hung his suits in the oak wardrobe beside the bed.

• She updated her work wardrobe before starting the new job.

• The actor was sent to wardrobe for a final fitting.

• The bedroom was so small that the wardrobe blocked the window.

• A few good basics can stretch a small wardrobe a long way.

• The wardrobe team repaired the torn gown between scenes.

Where does wardrobe come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the early 1300s from the Old French warderobe, a northern variant of garderobe, which combined warder 'to guard or keep safe' with robe 'a garment'. The first element ultimately traces back to a Germanic root meaning 'to watch over', the same source that gives us 'ward' and 'guard', while robe also entered French from a Germanic word for plundered clothing or spoils. A wardrobe therefore began life as the room or chamber where royal and noble clothing was guarded and stored, and only later did it come to mean the freestanding cupboard most people picture today. From the place of storage the sense naturally stretched to cover the whole collection of clothes kept there. Remembering that the start is 'ward', the same 'ward' as in guarding something, helps fix the single d and the silent-looking finish.

How the word is built

• ward (from Old French warder: to guard, keep)
• robe (garment)