gown vs kirtle

gown

noun
  • A woman's ordinary outer dress, such as a calico or silk gown. 

  • A loose wrapper worn by gentlemen within doors; a dressing gown. 

  • The robe worn by a surgeon. 

  • Any sort of dress or garb. 

  • The university community, especially as contrasted with the local populace. 

  • A loose, flowing upper garment. 

  • The official robe of certain professionals, clerics, and scholars, such as university students and officers, barristers, judges, etc. 

  • The dress of civil officers, as opposed to military officers. 

verb
  • To dress in a gown, to don or garb with a gown. 

kirtle

noun
  • A woman's gown; a woman's outer petticoat or skirt. 

  • A knee-length tunic. 

  • A short jacket. 

verb
  • To clothe or cover with, or as if with, a kirtle; to hitch up (a long garment) to the length of a kirtle. 

How often have the words gown and kirtle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )