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. Dress in general;
esp., the distinctive style of dress of a people, class, or
period.
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. A character dress, used at fancy balls
or for dramatic purposes.