Meaning

noun a garment resembling a tunic that was worn by men in the Middle Ages

noun a long dress worn by women

originFrom Middle English kirtel, from Old English cyrtel, cognate with Old Norse kyrtill (“tunic”) (whence Icelandic kyrtill, Danish kjortel (“gown, tunic”), Swedish kjortel (“petticoat, skirt”)), from Old Norse *kurtil-, supposedly a diminutive of *kurt-, from Latin curtus (“short, shortened”). Compare German Kittel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0