From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsurplicesur‧plice /ˈsɜːplɪs $ ˈsɜːr-/ noun [countable] RRCDCCa piece of clothing made of white material, worn over other clothes by priests or singers in church
Examples from the Corpus
surplice• Mr Copley, robed in cassock and billowing surplice, was impatiently pacing the back lawn seeming oblivious to their presence.• Our table is graced by a single chorister - salt in a fluted surplice.• The elderly cleric was standing in the doorway in his surplice to welcome them.• Chapter Three Miss Dunstable decided to say nothing about the Rector's imperfectly ironed surplice.• The vicar insisted that it would mean wearing the uniform his people would recognise, and that included the surplice.• In his billowing white surplice he looked like a dishevelled old bird struggling to take off in a high wind.• Even more successful in this purpose is the white surplice which happily hangs from Anglican shoulders.Origin surplice (1200-1300) Old French surpliz, from Medieval Latin superpellicium, from pellicium “coat of animal skins”, from Latin pellis “skin”; because it was worn over fur clothing 