CASSOCK, a long-sleeved, close-fitting robe worn by the clergy and others engaged in ecclesiastical functions. Originally applied to the dress of soldiers and horsemen, and later to the long garment worn in civil life, the name came into ecclesiastical use somewhat late (as a translation of subtaneum, vestis talaris, toga talaris, or tunica talaris) ; and it now survives in this sense alone. The word is derived through the French from Ital. casacca, "a frock, a horseman's cote, a long cote ; also a habitation or dwelling" (Florio, Q. Anna's New World of Words, 161I) , and this in turn is perhaps derived from Casa, a house (cf. chasuble) . A Slav origin has also been suggested, and the Cossack horseman may have given to the West both garment and name. Or it may be derived from casequin (Ital. casecchino), rather than vice versa, and this in turn from Arabic kazdyand (Pers. kashdyand), a padded jerkin (Lagarde in Gott. gelehrte Anzeiger, April 15, 1887, p. 238).
The cassock, though part of the canonical costume of the clergy, is not a liturgical vestment. Originally the ordinary dress of lay-people as well as clergy, it has survived only among the latter. In mild weather it was the outer garment ; in cold weather it was worn under the tabard or chimere (q.v.) ; the latter name was sometimes given to it as well as to the sleeveless upper robe. In the Roman Catholic Church the cassock (Fr. soutane, Ital. sottana) must be worn by the clergy both in ordinary life (except in Protestant countries) and under their vestments in church. It varies in colour with the wearer's rank: white for the pope, red for cardinals, purple for bishops, black for the lesser ranks. In the Church of England the cassock, prescribed in 1604 as the canonical dress of the clergy, has been continuously, though not universally, worn by the clergy since the Reformation. It is now, however, usually only worn in church, at home, or within the precincts of the parish.
See the Report of the sub-committee of Convocation on the Orna ments of the Church and its Ministers (London, 1908), and authorities there cited.