English
cote
Cote comes from Middle English cote ‘a coat, especially if worn as an undergarment’, and goes back to Old English cot ‘small house’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cot1‘small house’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cote1feminine form of cot
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cote1‘a coat, especially if worn as an undergarment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667cote1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English cote
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book IV: “Watching where shepherds pen their flocks, at eve, /…”.
Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cotWiktionary, English cote‘small house’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150coteWiktionary, English cotefeminine form of cot
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coteWiktionary, English cote‘a coat, especially if worn as an undergarment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667coteWiktionary, English cote. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book IV: “Watching where shepherds pen their flocks, at eve, /…”
The story
From Middle English cote, from the Old English cote, the feminine form of cot (‘small house’); doublet of cot (in the sense of “cottage”) and more distantly related to cottage.
Linked words
through Old English cot ‘small house’
through Middle English cote ‘a coat, especially if worn as an undergarment’
Today it means
noun A cottage or hut.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “cote”. 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 / Old English cot / cote