clothes

Etymology 1

From Middle English clothes, cloþes, plural of cloth, cloþ (“cloth, garment”), from Old English clāþas (“clothes”), plural of clāþ (“cloth”), equivalent to cloth + -es. Cognate with Scots clathes, claes (“clothes”), Danish klæder, Norwegian Bokmål klær, Norwegian Nynorsk klede, German Kleidung.

noun

1. (plural only) Items of clothing; apparel.
   Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess
2. (obsolete) plural of cloth.
3. The covering of a bed; bedclothes.
   She turned each way her frighted head, / Then sunk it deep beneath the clothes. 1717, Matthew Prior, The Dove
4. Laundry (hung on a clothesline).

Etymology 2

clothe + -s

verb

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of clothe