Cos"tume` (k?s"t?m` or k?s-t?m"), n. [F. costume, It. costume custom, dress, fr. L. consuetumen (not found), for consuetudo custom. See Custom, and cf. Consuetude.] 1. Dress in general; esp., the distinctive style of dress of a people, class, or period.

2. Such an arrangement of accessories, as in a picture, statue, poem, or play, as is appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances represented or described.

I began last night to read Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel . . . .I was extremely delighted with the poetical beauty of some parts . . . .The costume, too, is admirable.
Sir J. Mackintosh.

3. A character dress, used at fancy balls or for dramatic purposes.

• A style of dress, including garments, accessories, and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period, or people
       
• The dancer was wearing Highland costume
  
• An outfit or a disguise worn as fancy dress etc
       
• She wore a Red Indian costume to the party
  
• A set of clothes appropriate for a particular occasion or season
       
• The bride wore a grey going-away costume
  
  French
• A suit worn by a man