1. The wide-sleeved garment worn over the alb by a deacon, cardinal, bishop, or abbot at the celebration of Mass.
2. A wide-sleeved garment worn by an English monarch at his or her coronation.

[Middle English dalmatik, from Old French dalmatique, from Medieval Latin dalmatica (vestis), Dalmatian (garment) (originally made of white wool from Dalmatia), from Latin dalmaticus, of Dalmatia.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.