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ETON
(EE-tuhn)
1.
A short black jacket with wide lapels and cut square at the
hip 2. An English secondary school Common
clues: Harrow rival; School on the Thames; School founded by
Henry VI; Collar type; Preppy
jacket; British prep school; English school Crossword
puzzle frequency:
Once a month Frequency
in English language:
15109 / 86800 Video: A
tour of Eton College
Eton
uniform
Eton
school is famous for its traditions, including a uniform of black
tailcoat (or morning coat) and waistcoat, false-collar and
pinstriped trousers. All students wear a white tie that is
effectively a strip of cloth folded over into the collar. There
are some variations in the school dress worn by boys in
authority, see School Prefects and King's scholars sections.
The
long-standing claim that the present uniform was first worn as
mourning for the death of George III is unfounded. "Eton
dress" has undergone significant changes since its
standardisation in the 19th century. Originally (along with a
top-hat and walking-cane) Etonian dress reserved for formal
occasions, boys wear it today for classes, which are referred to
as "schools". As stated above, King's Scholars wear a
black gown over the top of their tailcoats, and occasionally a
surplice in Chapel. Members of the teaching staff (known as
Beaks) are required to wear a form of school dress when teaching.
From
1820 until 1967, boys under the height of 5'4" were required
to wear the Eton suit, which replaced the tailcoat with the
cropped Eton jacket (known colloquially as a "bum-freezer")
and included an Eton collar, a large, stiff-starched, white
collar. The Eton suit was copied by other schools and has
remained in use in some, particularly choir schools.
***
Eton
College
is a public school (that is, an independent, fee-paying secondary
school) for boys in Eton, Berkshire near Windsor in England.
Eton
College Chapel
It
boards approximately 1,200 boys between the ages of 13 and 18 who
enjoy some outstanding facilities at a cost of over £23,000
(GBP) a year. As at most 'public schools', its pupils achieve
very good exam results. 'Public schools' in the English sense are
not state funded or run, rather they are the top independent
secondary schools.
It is famous for its alumni (known as
Old Etonians) and the archaic traditions it maintains, including
a uniform of black tailcoat and waistcoat, false-collar
and pin-striped trousers. The uniform was first worn as mourning
for the death of George III, and the uniform is still worn today
for classes (known as "divisions" or "divs".)
Other idiosyncrasies include the Eton Field Game, the Eton Wall
Game, and the remnants of a peculiar slang.
The school is
popular with the Royal Family and has produced nineteen Prime
Ministers. There are many old Etonians in the Special Air Service
(SAS). See the list at the foot of this page for more well-known
Old Etonians.
Quadrangle,
Eton College
The
King's
College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor
was founded in 1440 by Henry VI as a charity school to provide
free education to seventy poor students who would then go on to
King's College, Cambridge, founded by Henry VI in 1441.
Henry VI took half the scholars and the headmaster from William
of Wykeham's Winchester College (founded 1382). Eton is modelled
on Winchester College, and became popular in the 17th century.
It is often suggested that the Duke of Wellington claimed
"The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of
Eton". The credibility for this is believed by some to be
dubious: Wellington briefly attended Eton, for which he had no
great love, in the late 18th century, when the school had no
playing fields or organised team sports, and the phrase was first
recorded three years after the Duke's death. The Duke was,
however, wildly popular at Eton, visiting many times later in his
life.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Eton College".
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