cassock

noun

cas·​sock ˈka-sək How to pronounce cassock (audio)
: a close-fitting ankle-length garment worn especially in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches by the clergy and by laypersons assisting in services

Illustration of cassock

Illustration of cassock

Examples of cassock in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web This approach demands that those who were once secular priests—the leaders of the philanthropic sector—abandon their cassocks and accept the mantle of the heretic. Mark Malloch-Brown, Foreign Affairs, 15 Jan. 2024 The bloodstained word is painted on scarlet satin, the material of a cardinal’s cassock. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2023 The attorney, canon law specialist the Rev. Pius Pietrzyk, told the Tribune that some incidents — buying a cassock for a seminarian who couldn’t afford one, or reserving a hotel conference room where alumni of a Catholic high school club could play cards — were viewed as boundary violations. John Keilman, chicagotribune.com, 3 Jan. 2022 The choristers stand in their stalls wearing white surplices over red cassocks and white ruffs. Peter Ross, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Apr. 2023 On screen, Crowe knocks back double espressos and rides a Lambretta scooter through Rome, his cassock billowing in the breeze to the music of Faith No More. Deepa Bharath, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2023 Police and sniffer dogs had made their search, and now senior clergy lined up in scarlet cassocks, a welcoming party, while the dean, also in red, stood outside the western entrance to greet his guest. Peter Ross, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Apr. 2023 Instead of a cassock? Joan Acocella, The New York Review of Books, 14 May 2020 The two elders, Ayatollah Sistani, 90 and clad in black robes, and Francis, 84, in his white cassock, each the highest religious authority among their followers, sat across from one another in stockinged feet. New York Times, 6 Mar. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cassock.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle French casaque

First Known Use

1631, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cassock was in 1631

Dictionary Entries Near cassock

Cite this Entry

“Cassock.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cassock. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

cassock

noun
cas·​sock ˈkas-ək How to pronounce cassock (audio)
: a close-fitting ankle-length garment worn by clergy (as in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches)

More from Merriam-Webster on cassock

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