accoutrement

/əˈku.tɚ.mənt/

Etymology

Probably partly from Middle French accoustrement, acoustrement, acoutrement (French accoutrement), from accoustrer, from Old French acostrer (“arrange, sew up”), and partly from accoutre + -ment. First attested in the 1540s.

Why this word is great

ACCOUTREMENT — [Noun] An accessory item of equipment or dress, particularly one that is non-essential but characteristic or identifying. From Middle French accoustrement, acoustrement, acoutrement (Modern French accoutrement), from accoustrer, from Old French acostrer ("arrange, sew up"), with the suffix -ment. Unlike "accessory" (which flits between the decorative and the disposable) or "trappings" (which clings to the gilded and the grandiose), "accoutrement" carries the weight of purpose—the saber at a cavalryman’s hip, the ink-stained pouch of a scribe, the battered leather satchel of a wandering scholar. It is the quiet insistence of identity in the details: the frayed epaulet, the chipped compass, the well-worn glove with its missing button. Even the superfluous, when chosen, becomes a kind of necessity.

noun

A soldier's equipment, other than weapons and uniform.“Thus One / Jovial his Mate bespoke; O Friend, observe, / How gay with all th'Accoutrements of War / The Britons come, with Gold well fraught they come”
An article of clothing or equipment, in particular when used as an accessory.“To me ſhe's married, not vnto my cloathes: / Could I repaire what ſhe will weare in me, / As I can change theſe poore accoutrements, / 'Twere well for Kate, and better for my ſelfe.”
An identifying yet superficial characteristic.“By the summer of 1964 they had achieved the bigger house on the better street and the familiar accouterments of a family on its way up: the $30,000 a year, the three children for the Christmas card, the picture window, the family room, […]”
The act of accoutering; furnishing.