vêtent

Vêtent is the third-person plural present indicative form of the French verb vêtir, meaning to clothe or to dress someone or something. It is used when the subject is plural and performs the action of clothing.

Etymology: The verb vêtir derives from Old French vestir, which comes from Latin vestire “to clothe,” itself from vestis “garment.” The related noun vêtement, meaning clothing, shares the same root, as do related terms in other Romance languages.

Usage: In contemporary French, vêtir is considered relatively formal or literary. In everyday speech, speakers more commonly use habiller to indicate dressing someone (habiller quelqu’un) or porter to indicate wearing garments (il porte une robe). The pronominal form se vêtir exists, but it is less frequent in casual speech than se habiller.

Register and note: Because of its formal tone, vêtir and its forms appear more often in literature, historical writing, or descriptive passages in older texts. The family of words around vêtir—vêtement, vêture, and related cognates in other languages—reflects the longstanding association with clothing and dress.

See also: vêtement; vêtements; se vêtir; habiller; porter; vesture (English cognate).