Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sturdy, tightly woven fabric of cotton, wool, or rayon twill.
  • noun Chiefly British A laborer's long loose smock; a gaberdine.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A long loose cloak or frock, generally coarse, with or without sleeves and a hood, formerly worn by common men out of doors, and distinctively by Jews when their mode of dress was regulated by law; hence, any similar outer garment worn at the present day, especially in Eastern countries.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A coarse frock or loose upper garment formerly worn by Jews; a mean dress.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable, countable A type of woolen cloth with a diagonal ribbed texture on one side.
  • noun uncountable, countable A similar fabric, made from cotton
  • noun countable A gaberdine (garment)
  • noun countable A yellow robe that Jews in England were compelled to wear in the year 1189 as a mark of distinction

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (usually in the plural) trousers made of flannel or gabardine or tweed or white cloth
  • noun a loose coverall (coat or frock) reaching down to the ankles
  • noun a firm durable fabric with a twill weave

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of gaberdine.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Recorded since 1904, altering the earlier gaberdine "long, coarse outer garment" (since 1520), from Spanish gabardina (perhaps influenced by gabán "overcoat" and tabardina "coarse coat"), from Middle French galverdine, itself probably from (Old or Middle) High German wallevart "pilgrimage," in the sense of "pilgrim's cloak" (from wallen 'to ambulate' + vart 'journey')

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Examples

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  • Gabardine is smooth on one side and has a diagonally ribbed surface on the other. There were a lot of gabardine trousers worn in the seventies.

    December 9, 2007

  • Interesting possible origins to this word, according to my OAD widget:

    early 16th c.;

    December 9, 2007

  • "She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy. I said be careful, his bowtie is really a camera."

    December 26, 2010

  • All dolled up in gabardine

    The lash-flashing Leda of pier nineteen

    Queen of the water and queen of the old main drag.

    (Down by the water, by The Decemberists)

    January 19, 2011