accoutrement
noun
ə-ˈkü-tər-mənt
Arthur HermanElizabeth Drew
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Tracing Accoutrement Back to Old French
Accoutrement and its rarer relative accoutre, a verb meaning "to provide with equipment or furnishings" or "to outfit," have been appearing in English texts since the 16th century. Today both words have variant spellings—accouterment and accouter. The pair's French ancestor, accoutrer, descends from an Old French word meaning "seam" and ultimately traces to the Latin word consuere, meaning "to sew together." Some etymological stitching is visible in another English word: couture, a word referring to the business of making fashionable clothes, as well as to the clothes themselves, is also a descendant of consuere.
Examples of accoutrement in a Sentence
Eric D. Lawrence, USA Today, 9 July 2025
Second set of winners: the data centers and all of its accoutrements.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 30 June 2025
Co-owners of the spacious full-service condos--kitchens and living area included--have collaborated with the new owners to donate the old accoutrements to Habitat for Humanity to make way for the new look.
—David Weiss, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025
These accoutrements saved our weekend when a late-May tempest blew across Colorado’s San Luis Valley one night.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for accoutrement
Cite this Entry
“Accoutrement.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accoutrement. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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accoutrement
noun
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