Refleksje i uwagi na temat pochodzenia i ewolucji znaczenia w Polsce niektórych pojęć z zakresu kostiumologii wojskowej na przykładzie wybranych publikacji słownikowych i encyklopedycznych

Both in Poland and in Europe civilian costume studies has managed to gain undeniable recognition in the academic circles connected with the humanities. One result of that, apart from considerable development of the research and an increasing number of specialist publications, also in Poland, is recognizing costume studies as an auxiliary science of history. It is generally acknowledged that it concerns an important element of man-created civilization: material culture. It is very different in Poland, however, as regards military costume studies, especially in relation to research on uniform studies, which is rare and developing slowly. As a result, it is a low-prestige activity, and in consequence, apart from rare cases, beyond the interests of costume studies experts in civilian fashion or historians exploring military history. In the case of military costume studies, the major and most frequently used Polish terms are “barwa”, “mundur” and “uniform” and their derivatives. That is why the author of this article, using major Polish dictionaries and encyclopedias, decided to investigate how their meaning developed and changed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and also what their origin is, i.e. which languages they have been borrowed from.