Standard Lemma guide

tunic

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈtjuːnɪk/
  • /ˈtuːnɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːnɪk
  • CMU ARPABET: T UW1 N IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A garment worn over the torso, with or without sleeves, and of various lengths reaching from the hips to the ankles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tunica

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any covering, such as seed coat or the organ that covers a membrane.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: anatomy, biology, botany, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tunica, tunicle

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Synonym of gymslip.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gymslip

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

any of a variety of loose fitting cloaks extending to the hips or knees

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cloak

Narrower terms: chiton, gymslip, kameez, kirtle, surcoat, tabard

5

noun

Meaning 5

an enveloping or covering membrane or layer of body tissue

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tunica, adventitia

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: membrane, tissue layer

Narrower terms: albuginea

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French tunique, from Latin tunica, possibly from Semitic (compare Aramaic [script needed] (kittuna), Hebrew כותנת (kuttoneth, “coat”), English chiton); or from Etruscan. Existed in Old English as tunece; unknown if that term was lost and then reborrowed later. Doublet of tunica.

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: туни́ка (tuníka) — garment
  • Catalan: túnica — garment
  • Chinese Mandarin: 短袍 (duǎnpáo) — garment
  • Czech: tunika — garment
  • Dutch: tuniek — garment
  • Esperanto: tuniko — garment
  • Finnish: tunika — garment
  • Finnish: viitta — garment
  • Finnish: jakku — garment
  • Finnish: asetakki — garment
  • French: tunique — garment
  • German: Tunika — garment
  • Greek: αμπέχονο (ampéchono) — garment
  • Ancient Greek: ἀμπέχονον (ampékhonon) — garment
  • Ancient Greek: χιτών (khitṓn) — garment
  • Hebrew: כֻּתֹּנֶת (kuttónet) — garment
  • Hungarian: tunika — garment
  • Irish: tuineach — garment
  • Irish: ionar — garment
  • Italian: tunica — garment
  • Japanese: チュニック (chunikku) — garment
  • Latin: tunica — garment
  • Nahuatl: camitl — garment
  • Norman: teunique — garment
  • Persian: کرته (korte) — garment
  • Persian: قرطه (qorte) — garment
  • Polish: tunika — garment
  • Portuguese: túnica — garment
  • Quechua: unku — garment
  • Romanian: tunică — garment
  • Russian: туни́ка (tuníka) — garment
  • Russian: блузка (bluzka) — garment
  • Russian: жакет (žaket) — garment
  • Sogdian: ܟܪܝܬܝ (kurθē) — garment
  • Spanish: túnica — garment
  • Spanish: tipoi — garment
  • Spanish: tipoy — garment
  • Spanish: tipói — garment
  • Swedish: tunika — garment
  • Tagalog: tunika — garment
  • Turkish: tunik — garment
  • Ugaritic: 𐎋𐎚𐎐 (ktn) — garment
  • Welsh: tiwnig — garment
  • Hungarian: buroklevél — any covering, such as seed coat or the organ that covers a membrane