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hose

Apparel
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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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

Close-fitting leg coverings that extended from foot to waist or thigh, worn by men before the advent of trousers, often dyed and patterned, a marker of medieval and Renaissance attire.

Detailed Definition
In medieval and Tudor poetry, hose are nearly ubiquitous for male figures, from peasants to princes, and their description often includes details of color (scarlet, green, black) and fabric (wool, silk). Hose were typically cut on the bias for stretch and held up by laces or points attached to the doublet. In chivalric romances, a knight's fine hose might be a gift from a lady, and in comic tales, mismatched or sagging hose provoke laughter. Poets use hose to ground characters in a specific historical moment, and their absence—bare legs—can signal poverty or madness. The word also appears in pastoral poetry, where shepherds or plowmen are described with practical woolen hose, stained by mud and sweat, linking the garment to the honest labor of the land.
Example
Example in poetry:
"His hose of scarlet silk were the pride of the court"; "The shepherd's hose, patched and worn, were the color of the earth"; "She darned his hose by candlelight, each stitch a prayer"; "The hose's fine wool clung to his legs like a second skin"; "He pulled on his hose and became a gentleman of the old school"; "The hose, once bright as blood, had faded to the color of dust"
Additional Notes
In medieval and Tudor poetry, hose are nearly ubiquitous for male figures, from peasants to princes, and their description often includes details of color (scarlet, green, black) and fabric (wool, silk). Hose were typically cut on the bias for stretch and held up by laces or points attached to the doublet. In chivalric romances, a knight's fine hose might be a gift from a lady, and in comic tales, mismatched or sagging hose provoke laughter. Poets use hose to ground characters in a specific historical moment, and their absence—bare legs—can signal poverty or madness. The word also appears in pastoral poetry, where shepherds or plowmen are described with practical woolen hose, stained by mud and sweat, linking the garment to the honest labor of the land. Related terms include breeches, stockings, and leggings. Students should note the hose's role in signaling medieval and Renaissance masculinity and class.
Also Known As
stockings tights legwear hosen
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