Peplum

Quick meaning: Peplum is a noun meaning (Ancient Greece) A kind of women's outer garment in ancient Greece; a veil.

Meaning

(Ancient Greece) A kind of women's outer garment in ancient Greece; a veil.

More Meanings

1. (fashion) A short overskirt cut in such a way that the sides form points. [from 20th century]
2. (fashion) A short overskirt attached to the waist of a garment; a basque.
3. (uncountable) A genre of Italian films based on historical or biblical epics.
4. (countable) An individual film in this genre.
5. (Ancient Greece) A peplos, an Ancient Greek garment formed of a tubular piece of cloth folded back upon itself halfway down so that the top of the tube is worn around the waist, and the bottom covers the legs down to the ankles; the open top is then worn over the shoulders, and draped, in folds, down to the waist. Compare the Roman palla.

Example Sentences

[…] there were hastily produced B movies, such as the peplums, the spaghetti westerns, the detective stories, the horrors.

While it does offer a lighter tone than most peplums, and spotlights a hero who relies more on his wits than his biceps […]

Over this they adopted the Greek peplum, under the name of palla. This garment, however, was exclusively confined to the gentler sex, and was never worn, as was the peplum among the Greeks, by men.

And this was Neith, or Athena, that God thus described, "I am all that was, is, and shall be, and my peplum or veil, no mortal could ever uncover." […] Peplum is properly a womanish pall or veil, embroidered all over and consecrated to Minerva.

Word Forms

• peplums
• pepla

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include peplos, peplus, perizoma, pelerine, palla, plastron.

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