Home › Glossary › Letter C

cassock

Apparel
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A long, close-fitting ecclesiastical garment reaching to the ankles, worn by clergy and choristers, evoking sobriety, humility, and the disciplined life of religious vocation.

Detailed Definition
In poetic representations of clerical life, the cassock stands for the everyday reality of ministry—its black or dark color suggesting seriousness, anonymity, and the rejection of worldly adornment. Poets use the cassock to anchor a scene in a specific institutional setting: a seminary, a cathedral close, or a humble parish rectory. Its continuous, unbroken line from neck to hem is often read as a metaphor for integrity or a life committed to a single purpose. When a cassock is described as worn or patched, it can indicate years of faithful service or poverty; when it is new and stiff, it may signal youthful zeal or recent vocation. The cassock also appears in protest poetry, sometimes as a target of ridicule or as a symbol of institutional power, but more often as a reminder of quiet, persistent devotion in a chaotic world.
Example
Example in poetry:
"Inside the chapel was a Cassock... The cassock lay there in a pool of red" (spectrajane, "The Cassock"); "The greatest mathematician being flogged by a man in a cassock" (Margaret Alice Second); "a collared machineel in a cassock" ("Machineel In A Cassock"); "The cassock's black wool absorbed the candlelight like a prayer"; "He smoothed his cassock before ascending the pulpit's worn steps"; "The cassock, patched at the elbows, spoke of decades of humble service"
Additional Notes
The cassock stands for the everyday reality of clerical life in poetic representations—its black or dark color suggesting seriousness, anonymity, and the rejection of worldly adornment. Poets use the cassock to anchor a scene in a specific institutional setting: a seminary, a cathedral close, or a humble parish rectory. Its continuous, unbroken line from neck to hem is often read as a metaphor for integrity or a life committed to a single purpose. When described as worn or patched, the cassock indicates years of faithful service or poverty; when new and stiff, it may signal youthful zeal or recent vocation. The cassock also appears in protest poetry, sometimes as a target of ridicule or as a symbol of institutional power, but more often as a reminder of quiet, persistent devotion in a chaotic world. Related terms include soutane, robe, and surplice. Students should note that the cassock's lack of ornamentation makes it a powerful contrast to more elaborate vestments, and its color variations (black, purple, red) can signal rank within ecclesiastical hierarchy.
Also Known As
clerical gown long tunic soutane
Skip to main content