Cos″tume′ (k?s″t?m′ or k?s–t?m″), n. [F. costume, It. costume custom, dress, fr. L. consuetumen (not found), for consuetudo custom. See Custom, and cf. Consuetude.] 1. Dress in general; esp., the distinctive style of dress of a people, class, or period.
2. Such an arrangement of accessories, as in a picture, statue, poem, or play, as is appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances represented or described.
I began last night to read Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel....I was extremely delighted with the poetical beauty of some parts....The costume, too, is admirable.
Sir J. Mackintosh.
3. A character dress, used at fancy balls or for dramatic purposes.