Other forms: frocks
A frock is a dress, in older use. A summer frock, a party frock, in her best frock.
It is dated and now slightly playful in Britain, where dress is the ordinary word. It once meant a monk's habit, and to unfrock a priest is to remove them from office, which is the same garment standing for the position.
1nounfrockA dress, in older use.
“She wore a pretty cotton frock to the summer dance.”
frock is a garment.
Old French froc meant a monk's gown, probably from a Germanic word for a coat.
Proto-Indo-European
*kreḱ- — to weave
Proto-Germanic
*hrukkaz — robe, jacket, skirt, tunic
Frankish
*hrokk — skirt, dress, robe
Old French
froc — frock, a monk's gown or habit
Middle English
frok
English, today
frock
Built from
From Middle English frok, frokke, from Old French froc (“frock, a monk's gown or habit”), perhaps via Medieval Latin hrocus, roccus, rocus (“a coat”), from Frankish hrokk (“skirt, dress, robe”), from Proto-Germanic hrukkaz (“robe, jacket, skirt, tunic”), from Proto-Indo-European kreḱ- (“to weave”). Cognate with Old High German hroch, roch (“skirt, dress, cowl”) – whence German Rock (“skirt, coat”) –, stq Rok (“skirt”), Dutch rok (“skirt, petticoat”), Old English rocc (“an overgarment, tunic, rochet”), Old Norse rokkr (“skirt, jacket”), whence Danish rok (“garment”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA