Crossword Genius

French revolutionary formally dresses fellow countryman? (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

robespierre

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'french revolutionary' is the definition.
'robespierre' can be an answer for 'revolutionary' (French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre). I am not certain of the 'french' bit.

'formally dresses fellow countryman?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'dresses' could be 'robes' (robing is a kind of dressing) and 'robes' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'pierre' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for robespierre that I've seen before include "old revolutionary" , "leading figure in French history" , "French Jacobin leader, guillotined in 1794" , "French revolutionary who was guillotined" , "Revolutionary leader" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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