English
coat
Coat comes from Middle English cote, from Old French cote ‘outer garment with sleeves’, from Latin cotta, from Germanic *kuttô ‘woolen cloth, coat’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kuttô1‘cowl, woolen cloth, coat’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcotta1‘undercoat, tunic’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400cote1‘outer garment with sleeves’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cote1‘coat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591coat1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English coat
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “Hark, countrymen! either renew the fight, / Or tear…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kuttôWiktionary, English coat‘cowl, woolen cloth, coat’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcottaWiktionary, English coat‘undercoat, tunic’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400coteWiktionary, English coat‘outer garment with sleeves’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coteWiktionary, English coat‘coat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591coatWiktionary, English coat. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “Hark, countrymen! either renew the fight, / Or tear…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with coat, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Germanic *kuttô ‘cowl, woolen cloth, coat’
Explore everything descended from *kuttô →
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Today it means
noun An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “coat”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *kuttô / coat