1. A Tuxedo is a style of suit (or, more precisely, the suit jacket also known as a "dinner jacket") that has become the standard dress for men at formal celebrations in contemporary Western culture.
The tuxedo is a double-breasted suit jacket, usually black and sometimes with a slightly silky sheen. The cut is similar to that of a standard business suit. The buttons, however, are often replaced by more elaborate, fabric coated, rounded buttons.
The trousers worn with the tuxedo are often self-supporting, rather than using a belt like most business suits. It is usually worn with a white shirt, often pleated and requiring cufflinks, a bow tie, and sometimes a brightly coloured satin cummerbund or vest.
The tuxedo's first recorded public outing was supposedly at an autumn ball in 1886 in Tuxedo Park, forty miles north-west of New York City.
The term is now applied somewhat indiscriminately to any suit worn at such an occasion.
A black-and-white cat is sometimes referred to as a 'tuxedo' cat.
2. Tuxedo is the name for a proprietary brand of middleware software, now owned and licensed by BEA Systems.