Etymology From Ancient Greek χιτών (khitṓn, “tunic”), from a Central Semitic *kittan, from the Akkadian 𒌆𒃰 (kitû, literally “flax, linen”), from Sumerian 𒄑𒃰 (kitû [GIŠ.GADA]).
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Historical A loose woolen tunic worn by men and women in Ancient Greece and in Ancient Rome.
The Athenian maiden, unlike her Spartan sister, did not think it proper to publicly exhibit her bodily skill and beauty in a short chiton, but taking a bath seems to have been among her every-day habits as is shown by the numerous bathing scenes on vases.1884, Levi Walter Yaggy, Thomas Louis Haines, Museum of Antiquity: A Description of Ancient Life, Madison, Wis.: J.B. Furman & Co:
On the night of our first attempt, we simply overdrank and passed out in our chitons in the woods near Francis’s house.1992, Donna Tartt, The Secret History:
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She wears a diaphanous himation that covers her torso, over a floor-length chiton of heavier fabric.1998, Colette Susan Czapski, “NM238: A Hellenistic Statue and Its Archaistic Support”, in Kim J. Hartswick, Mary Carol Sturgeon, editors, Stephanos: Studies in Honor of Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, page 53:
She wears a chiton and himation, using both hands to hold the edge of the latter, in which she has gathered apples.2002, chapter I, in Nikolaos Kaltsas, editor, Sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, page 156:
Any of various rock-clinging marine molluscs of the class Polyplacophora, including the genus Chiton.
In the giant chiton, Cryptochiton, this girdle has expanded so as to completely cover the plates.1969, Sam Hinton, chapter I, in Seashore Life of Southern California, page 72:
The chiton (Fig. 14.1 a) is depressed (dorso-ventrally flattened), with a large foot which has a flat sole.1979, R. McNeill Alexander, chapter I, in The Invertebrates, page 295:
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The bright orange gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) is the largest in the world.1996, Paul Henson, chapter I, in The Natural History of Big Sur, page 70: