tab

[Etym. doubtful.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. A latchet or flap of a shoe or half-boot, formerly fastened with a buckle, now usually by a string. 2. The metallic binding on the end of a shoe or corset lace; a tag. 3. A or that of a 3981 *tab-ard, *tab-erd, *tab-ert, *tab-eld, s . [O. Fr.tabart , tabard ; Fr. tabard ; Sp. & Port. tabar do ; Ital. tabarro ; Wel. tabar ; M. H. Ger. tapfart , taphart. Origin unknown.] A light vestment worn over the armor, and generally embroidered with the arms of the wearer. It was close-fitting, open at the sides, with wide sleeves or flaps reaching to the elbows. It originally reached to the middle of the leg, and was afterward made shorter. It was at first worn chiefly by the military, but afterward became an ordinary article of dre of other cla es in England and France, in the middle ages. The illustration shows the tabard and other official dre of Garter King of Arms, in 1417, when the office was created by Henry V. for the service of the Order of the Garter, which till then had been attended by Windsor heralds. The tabard is now worn only by heralds and pursuivants at arms, and is embroidered with the arms rms of the sovereign. Tabard. tăb-ar-dar', *tab-ard-er,*tab-ard-eër', subst . [Eng. tabard ; -er.] One who wears a tabard; spec if., a scholar belonging to the foundation of Queen's College, Oxford University, England, whose original dre was a tabard. tăb-ar-ět, subst. [Etym. doubtful; perhaps connected with tabby (q. v.).] Fabric : A stout, satin-striped silk stuff.