ingewand

Ingewand is a historical term found in some medieval Dutch and Low German texts. It is generally understood as a descriptive expression meaning “in garment” or “in attire,” often used to indicate the appearance or state of dress of a person described in a passage. The form appears in contexts that emphasize clothing, ceremony, or disguise, and it can function either literally (describing what someone is wearing) or metaphorically (signaling status, role, or ritual function).

Etymology and form

The word ingw and related variants are typically analyzed as a compound of in- plus gewand, where gewand denotes a garment or attire in older Dutch and related Germanic languages. Gewand itself appears in Middle Dutch and Early Modern Dutch with the sense of clothing or dress, and ingewand variants are encountered in manuscript spellings across different regional texts.

Usage

In textual practice, ingewand is encountered in descriptive narration that foregrounds appearance. It can refer to a person entering a scene clothed in a specific garment, or be used more broadly to signify attire appropriate to a particular occasion or role. Because it is archaic, the term is largely confined to quotations from historical sources, glossaries, and studies of medieval language.

Modern status and related terms

Today, ingewand is regarded as obsolete in standard Dutch. Contemporary equivalents include phrases like in gewaad or gekleed in, which convey the same general idea of clothing or attire. Related concepts include garb, costume, and disguise.

See also: Gewand, in disguise, clothing in literature. References to ingewand appear mainly in scholarly works on Middle Dutch language and historical lexica.