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''surcoat'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''surcoat'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260727004347-00-⌔

surcoat - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Noun

surcoat (plural surcoats)

  • (historical) A loose sleeveless garment worn over a suit of armor, sometimes colored or embroidered with the wearer’s coat of arms.
    • ✤ The ordered system of symbols which we know as heraldry came into being in the twelfth century to meet a military need. These symbols were emblazoned on shields, surcoats and fighting flags, and served as an invaluable means of identification when the features were obscured by the great helm.1
    • ✤ The Lord mayor and sheriff ride in their armour with surcoats of crimson.2
  • (historical) An overgarment worn over a woman’s gown; a kind of short robe worn over the tunic at the close of the 11th century.
    • ✤ She wore a short surcoat of scarlet, cut low around the shoulders, sleeveless, reaching just below her hips, like the tabards worn by medieval heralds. Over it she wore a laced-edged cotta.3

Etymology

From Middle English surcote, from Old French surcote, formed with sur (“over”) and cote (“coat, robe, tunic, overgarment”), respelled based on coat.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈsɜːˌkəʊt/
  • (US) IPA: /ˈsɜɹˌkoʊt/

Printed 2026-07-27.

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Footnotes

  1. 1956 July, Col. H. C. B. Rogers, “Railway Heraldry”, in Railway Magazine, page 476: ↩

  2. 2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 165: ↩

  3. 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 25: ↩

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