This word comes from the Latin word trahō, which means to draw, plunder, drag, or trail. This is where we get traje, the Spanish word for suit, from. How did such an unrelated word, a verb no less, wind up being the word for an article of clothing in Spanish?
1 Answer
This reference explains that the idea of a suit is to draw attention. It also says that, even if ones of the meaning is "to drag" the idea is closer to "to bring" like in "I brought this dress to be properly dressed for the event".
Take into account that traje
no only describes the man suit (with jacket and trousers made form the same material) but also a way or code of dressing (uniform).
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It is easier to recognize the relation by considering the Spanish verb "atraer" (to attract). The origin is set to "atraer la mirada", and recognized in other words like "mujer atractiva", "ella causa atracción", "ella me atrajo".– RodrigoNov 26, 2014 at 15:07