What is "toga"

Toga \To"ga\, n.; pl. E. Togas, L. Tog[ae]. [L., akin to tegere to cover. See Thatch.] (Rom. Antiq.) The loose outer garment worn by the ancient Romans, consisting of a single broad piece of woolen cloth of a shape approaching a semicircle. It was of undyed wool, except the border of the toga pr[ae]texta.

Toga pr[ae]texta. [L.], a toga with a broad purple border, worn by children of both sexes, by magistrates, and by persons engaged in sacred rites.

Toga virilis [L.], the manly gown; the common toga. This was assumed by Roman boys about the time of completing their fourteenth year.

c.1600, from Latin toga "cloak or mantle," from PIE *tog-a- "covering," from root *(s)teg- "to cover" (see stegosaurus). The outer garment of a Roman citizen in time of peace.\n\nThe toga as the Roman national dress was allowed to be worn by free citizens only. A stranger not in full possession of the rights of a Roman citizen could not venture to appear in it. Even banished Romans were in imperial times precluded from wearing it. The appearance in public in a foreign dress was considered as contempt of the majesty of the Roman people. Even boys appeared in the toga, called, owing to the purple edge attached to it (a custom adopted from the Etruscans) toga praetexta. On completing his sixteenth, afterward his fifteenth, year (tirocinium fori), the boy exchanged the toga praetexta for the toga virilis, pura, or libera
--a white cloak without the purple edge. Roman ladies (for these also wore the toga) abandoned the purple edge on being married.

[Guhl & Koner, "The Life of the Greeks and Romans," transl. Francis Hueffer, 1876]

["Princeton Alumni Weekly," March 19, 1954]

n. 1 Loose outer garment worn by the citizens of Rome. 2 Loose wrap gown.

n. a one-piece cloak worn by men in ancient Rome

The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of between 12 and 20 feet in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tradition, it is said to have been the favoured dress of Romulus, Rome's founder; it was also thought to have been worn by both sexes. As Roman women gradually adopted the stola, the toga was recognised as formal wear for Roman men, and marked their status as male citizens. Women engaged in prostitution provide the main exception to this rule. The type of toga worn reflected a citizen's rank in the civil hierarchy. Various laws and customs restricted its use to citizens, who were required to wear it for public festivals and civic duties.

From its probable beginnings as a simple, practical work-garment, the toga became more voluminous, complex and costly, increasingly unsuited to anything but formal and ceremonial use. It was and is still considered Ancient Rome's "national costume", but it was hard to put on, uncomfortable and challenging to wear correctly, and never truly popular. When circumstances allowed, those otherwise entitled or obliged to wear it opted for more comfortable, casual garments. It gradually fell out of use, firstly among citizens of the lower class, then those of the middle class. Eventually, it was worn only by the highest classes for ceremonial occasions, and by the 5th century AD, it had been replaced as official costume by the more practical pallium.

A toga is a garment worn in Roman times Toga may also refer to: