Word for Wednesday: Coat

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Our March Word for Wednesday theme is clothes. 

The word clothes comes from the Old English ‘claðas’ meaning ‘garments’. ‘Claðas’ is also the plural of ‘clað’ meaning ‘cloth’.

So far, we’ve looked at the words shirt, trousers, and dress. Today’s word is coat. 

A coat is an outer garment that has sleeves and covers the body from the shoulder down. It is worn outdoors in the cooler months to keep warm. A short coat is called a jacket.

Coat dates to the early-fourteenth century and comes from the Old French ‘cote’ meaning ‘robe’ or ‘overgarment’, possibly from the Frankish ‘kotta’ meaning ‘coarse cloth’. The word has also been used to describe the natural fur of an animal since the late-fourteenth century. 

Jacket dates to the mid-fifteenth century from the Old French ‘jaquet’, from ‘jacque’ meaning ‘tunic’. The word may be linked to the name Jacque (Jack); or to ‘jacque (de mailles)’ meaning ‘coat of mail’, from the Spanish ‘jaco’, from the Arabic ‘shaak’ meaning ‘breastplate’. 
 


24 Mar 2021
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