kirtle

noun

1. A knee-length tunic.

   “All in a kirtle of diſcolourd ſay / He clothed was, ypaynted full of eies; / And in his boſome ſecretly there lay / An hatefull Snake, the which his taile vptyes / In many folds, and mortall ſting implyes.”

   “Many of the church dignitaries are distinguishable by peculiarities of dress, as the shovel hat and kirtle.”

   “Her eyes were large, and full of light, / Her arms and neck were bare; / No garment she wore save a kirtle bright, / And her own long, raven hair.”

2. A short jacket.

   “KIRTLE, […] a Sort of ſhort Jacket.”

   “A man's jacket was also called a kirtle.”

3. A woman's gown; a woman's outer petticoat or skirt.

   “Per[igot] VVell decked in a frocke of gray, / Wil[ly] hey ho, gray is greet, / Per. And in a kirtle of green ſay, / [Wil.] the greene is for maydens meet.”

   “A cap of flowers, and a kirtle / Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;”

   “Dol[l Tearsheet] I loue thee better than I loue thee, ere a ſcuruy yong boy of them all. / Fal[staff] What ſtuffe wilt haue a kirtle of? I ſhall receiue mony a thurſday, ſhalt haue a cap to morrow: […]”

   “[Y]ou must cut these fine tresses close by your ears, your rich kirtle close by the knee: you must bear my bow and carry my arrows, ay, and be ready at once to go to the greenwood with one for whose head much gold is offered.”

   “Around his waist was a kind of kirtle, the skin of some animal.”

verb

1. (transitive)To clothe or cover with, or as if with, a kirtle; to hitch up (a long garment) to the length of a kirtle.

   “Eastward the Night / Climbs slow with hooded brows, and languid Day / Kirtles her robe fantastical, and leans / To take the embrace of darkness.”

   “Father Fogen led the way, his skinny shanks a gleaming white as he kirtled his cassock about his thighs. I was obliged to do the same, for the hillside above the house was thick with grass and thorny shrubs that caught at the coarse wool skirts of my borrowed robe.”

   “I didn't kirtle my skirts above my knees. I'm not wearing breeches beneath my habit, though without a doubt they'd be warmer than my stockings.”

   “Kirtling her skirts for freedom of movement, she accelerated to full speed and headed for the road, hoping to reach the relative safety of the village.”