attire, atire

t. [Connected apparently with two cla es of words. It has affinity with O. Fr. attirer, attyrer, atirer = to provide, to array, to dispose, to adorn. (This is not closely akin in signification to Mod. Fr. attirer, which is to attract, to procure.) From O. Fr. tier rank, order; Prov. atieyar; Sp. ataviar to adorn. Compare also Ger. zieren =to adorn; zier = ornament. The Eng. attire has also intimate relations with O. Fr. attourner to clothe; Mod. Fr. atourner = to adorn; from O. Fr. atour, attour (1) a hood, (2) a head-dre for a woman. The Eng. word tire - woman, to a certain extent, connects both cla es of words.] [ATTIRE, 8., TIRE, TIRE-WOMAN.] To clothe one in garments, especially of a gorgeous character. (Used literally or figuratively, followed by with or in.) "... and with the linen mitre shall he be attired " -Lev. xvi. 4. "Religion, if in heavenly truths attired , Needs only to be seen to be admired." Cowper: Expostulation. at-tire, * a-tï're, * at-ty're, a-ty're IMG:content-0879.png:[blocks in formation] "This lady was of good entaile, Right wondirfulle of apparayle; By hir attyre so bright and shene, Men myght perceyve welle, and sene, She was not of religioun. Nor I nelle make mencioun Nor of robe, nor of tresour, Of broche, neithir of hir rich attour ." Romaunt of the Rose, 3,718-3,725. II. ( Of the other forms of the word): Dre , apparel, vestments. 1. Spec. Of a splendid kind. "Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire l-Jer. ii. 32. (See also Ezek. xxiii. 15.) 2. Gen. Whether splendid or not. "Not brothers they in feature or attire ." Words worth: Excursion, bk. viii. In ordinary language it is rarely used in the plural. "But, when return'd, the good Uly es' son With better hand shall grace with fit attires His guest Pope: Homer's Ody ey, bk. xiv., 583-5. B. Technically : 1. Old Bot.: The name given by Grew to the stamens, pistils, ., of a plant included within the calyx (called impalement ) and the corolla (denominated foliation ). " Attire [in Botany). The flower of a plant is divided into three parts-the empalement, the folintion, and the attire , which is either florid or semi form. Florid attire, called thrums or suits, as in the flowers of marigold and tansey, consists sometimes of two, but commonly of three parts: the outer part is the floret, the body of which is divided at the top, like the cowslip flower, into five distinct parts. Semi form attire consists of two parts-the chives and apices; one upon each attire ."-Grew: Anatomy of Plants. 2. Her .: (1) Clothing; (2) a single horn of a stag. The plur. attires is used for two horns. (Glo . of Her .) at-tï'red, pa. par. & a. [ATTIRE, v.] IMG:content-0880.png:[blocks in formation] drooping. ( Boutell: English Heraldry.) "Attired: a term used among Heralds when they have occasion to speak of the hornes of a Buck or Sing."- Bullokar : Eng . Expos . (ed. 1656).