frock vs kirtle

frock

noun
  • A dress, a piece of clothing, which consists of a skirt and a cover for the upper body. 

  • An outer garment worn by priests and other clericals; a habit. 

  • A sailor's jersey. 

  • An undress regimental coat. 

  • A frog. 

verb
  • To make (somebody) a cleric. 

  • To clothe (somebody) in a frock. 

  • To grant to an officer the title and uniform of a rank he will soon be promoted to. 

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 frock and kirtle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )