also gown, subs. (university).—A student.
1800. C. K. SHARPE, in Correspondence (1888), i., 96. A battle between the GOWNSMEN and townspeople … in spite of the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors.
1850. F. E. SMEDLEY, Frank Fairlegh, ch. xxv. The ancient town of Cambridge, no longer animated by the countless throngs of GOWNSMEN, frowned in its unaccustomed solitude.
1861. T. HUGHES, Tom Brown at Oxford. The townsmen … were met by the GOWNSMEN with settled steady pluck.
