tunic

• tunick (obsolete)

Borrowed from Middle French tunique, from Latin tunica, possibly from Semitic;[1] see also Aramaic [script needed] (kittuna), Hebrew כותנת (kuttoneth, “coat”); or from Etruscan. Existed in Old English as tunece; unknown if term was lost and then reborrowed later.

• IPA^(key): /tjuːnɪk/, /tuːnɪk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːnɪk

tunic (plural tunics)

1. A garment worn over the torso, with or without sleeves, and of various lengths reaching from the hips to the ankles.

   Synonym: tunica

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.

2. (anatomy, botany) Any covering, such as seed coat or the organ that covers a membrane.

   Synonyms: tunica, tunicle

   • 2015, Charlie Nardozzi, New England Month-by-Month Gardening: What to Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year, Cool Springs Press, →ISBN, page 132:

     Select individual bulbs that are firm and have no noticeable blemishes on them. Don't worry about the papery covering or tunic. That may or may not be in place, […]

3. Synonym of gymslip

• → Welsh: tiwnig

• cut in, cut-in, cutin, incut