COSTUME

costume. Costume, n. a just proportion of parts

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Cos″tume′ (k?s″t?m′ or k?s–t?m″), n. [[F. costume, It. costume custom, dress, fr. L. consuetumen (not found), for consuetudo custom. See Custom, and cf. Consuetude.]] 1. 1. Dress in general; esp., the distinctive style of dress of a people, class, or period.
2. 2. Such an arrangement of accessories, as in a picture, statue, poem, or play, as is appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances represented or described.
I began last night to read Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel . . . .I was extremely delighted with the poetical beauty of some parts . . . .The costume, too, is admirable. Sir J. Mackintosh. 3. 3. A character dress, used at fancy balls or for dramatic purposes.