A few days ago, I mentioned how the word dress originated from the Latin word regere, which means “to rule”. Let’s dive deeper into this connection because it may seem unusual at first glance. The term “dress” has evolved over time to encompass various meanings such as “conduct”, “putting something in order”, “setting things right”, and even “dressing a wound”, in addition to referring to clothing. These diverse meanings stem from a verb sense that emerged in the fourteenth century from Old French dresser, meaning “to arrange” or “to prepare”. The notion of preparing for something gradually transitioned into the act of wearing clothes, eventually leading to the specific concept of a garment known as a dress. This kind of semantic evolution is common in languages, as seen in Spanish with vestido/vestirse.
