waistcoatn.
/ˈweɪs(t)kəʊt/, /ˈwɛskᵻt/, U.S. /ˈweɪs(t)ˌkoʊt/, /ˈwɛskət/ A garment covering the upper part of the body down to the waist.† 2. A short outer coat or jacket; a ‘jersey’.
1. † b. Applied to a plainer and less costly garment, usually of knitted wool, worn chiefly for additional warmth. Obsolete.† d. Applied to a child's first garment. Obsolete.
a. A garment forming part of ordinary male attire, worn under an outer garment (a doublet, later a coat, jacket, or the like), and intended to be partly exposed to view when in wear.The earliest waistcoats, intended to show through the slashings and other openings of the doublet, were often extremely elaborate and costly. They were sometimes provided with sleeves, and appear to have reached to or below the hips. The waistcoat now has armholes, but not sleeves; it may be made of the same material as the coat, or of different materials, and is sometimes embroidered or otherwise ornamented. The back is now of inferior or thinner material.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > waistcoat
waistcoat1519
vest1666
petticoat1691
jacket1705
fecket1755
waistcoat-piece1789
under-waistcoat1794
vest-slip1920
1519 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 354 For makyng of a waste cotte.
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love ii. i. sig. Dv He has a ritch wrought Waste-coate to intertaine his visitants in. View more context for this quotation
1649 King Charls his Speech upon Scaffold 13 The King..being in His Wastecoat, put His Cloak on again.
1666 S. Pepys Diary 20 June (1972) VII. 172 Having of late taken too much cold by washing my feet and going in a thin silk waistcoat, without any other coat over it, and open-breasted.
1711 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 28 Nov. (1948) II. 423 Domville saw Savage in Italy, and says he is a coxcomb, and half mad: he goes in red, and with yellow waistcoats.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1781 II. 377 Sir Philip Jennings Clerk..wore..an embroidered waistcoat, and very rich laced ruffles.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) x. 90 He was habited in a coarse-striped waistcoat, with black calico sleeves, and blue glass buttons.
1869 ‘L. Carroll’ Phantasmagoria 71 He would keep his right-hand buried (Like Napoleon) in his waistcoat.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > waistcoat > types of
stomacherc1450
wyliecoat1478
waistcoat1585
cheat1688
linder1768
sleeve-waistcoat1825
shawl-waistcoat1840
bawneen1910
slip1933
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 163/2 Indusium,..a waste coate, or wollen peticoate.
1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 5 T. Giue me my wastecote. R. Which will you haue, that of flannel? T. No, giue me that which is knit.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 68 I hauing for the cold at Dantzke, in the beginning of September, put on a wollen wasecoat, was forced now at the entring of Italy, for the great heat in the end of October, to put off the same.
1698 Ogilby's Brit., Itin. 4/1 Doncaster... Enjoys a good Trade for Stockings and Knit Wastcoats, &c.
1711 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 5 Oct. (1948) II. 377 It grows bloody cold, and I have no waistcoat here.
c. †in one's waistcoat; esp. as the typical undress of exercise implying the casting aside of an upper garment (cf. modern in one's shirt-sleeves) (obsolete). under one's waistcoat: in one's breast.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adverb] > in specific way
to (also into, unto) one's (also the) shirtc1300
in or of (a) suitc1325
in ragsa1350
in (also on) one's shirtc1380
in suit of or with1389
thinlya1400
in suit with1488
finely?1552
raggedly1552
smoothly1579
garish1590
briskly1592
in one's waistcoat1607
in mourning1621
in cuerpoa1640
in gala1757
airily1768
plain1808
in mufti1816
in, on one's stocking-soles1827
seedily1837
in beaver1840
back to front1869
dowdily1887
dossily1903
head-to-toe1946
sharp1951
sharply1965
understatedly1972
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > breast or breasts (of woman) > [adverb] > in one's breast
under one's waistcoat1859
1607 B. Barnes Divils Charter iv. v. I 2 b Enter Astor and Philippo in their wast-cotes with rackets.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn xxxix With all our vanity and absurdity, we Irish have good warm hearts under our waistcoats.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > other > for children
waistcoat1538
slip1775
pelisse1805
barrow1878
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Crepundia..the fyrst apparayle of chyldren, as swathels, wastcotes, and such lyke.
e. transferred. Applied to the plumage of birds, or the coat of animals, about the breast or stomach, esp. where this is strikingly different in colour or marking from that of the rest of the body.
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the world > animals > animal body > markings or colourings > [noun] > different marking about breast
waistcoat1898
the world > animals > birds > feather > [noun] > on breast or stomach
maila1475
mail-feather1773
plastron1890
waistcoat1898
1898 J. D. Rees in 19th Cent. June 1024 A woodpecker with black wings, a white waistcoat, and a crimson crest.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > jacket > close-fitting
jackanapes coat1626
waistcoata1628
monkey jacket1822
polka1845
reefing jacket1846
polka jacket1849
monkey coat1859
hug-me-tight1860
reefer1870
jersey1889
reefer coat1901
shrug1957
Nehru jacket1962
a1628 F. Greville Life of Sidney (1651) ii. 24 His wast-coat..not unlike the best sort of those wollen knit ones, which our ordinary watermen row us in.
1765 in 6th Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. App. ii. 134 Floats made of cork in the form of seamen's waistcoats..to prevent drowning.
3. A short (woollen) garment worn next the skin.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > underwear > [noun] > vest or undershirt > other
demy?1499
waistcoat1606
singlet1763
day shift1765
jersey1837
merinoc1915
T-shirt1920
Jacky Howe1936
string vest1951
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 75 In winter time clad he went against the colde with foure coates, together with a good thick gowne, and his Wastcoate or Peticoate bodie of woollen.
1772 W. Buchan Domest. Med. (ed. 2) xxxiii. 441 A flannel waistcoat worn next the skin has often a very good effect in a dysentery.
1807 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life II. xx. 251 Putting on a cold shirt, for the first time after throwing off the under flannel waistcoat.
4. As an article of feminine attire.† a. A short garment, often elaborate and costly, worn by women about the upper part of the body (usually beneath an outer gown, but so as to be seen). Obsolete.In the 16th and early 17th cent. the waistcoat was one of the normal garments of women, having superseded the placard and stomacher. Later in the 17th cent. (when going out of fashion), esp. if worn without an upper gown, it appears to have been considered a mark of a low-class woman of ill-repute (see waistcoateer n. 1).† b. Applied to garments of foreign women that resembled the contemporary feminine waistcoat. Obsolete.† c. A short (sleeveless) undergarment worn about the upper part of the body; a camisole. Obsolete.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > worn beneath woman's gown
petticoat1464
waistcoat1547
1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe i. f. lxv I cause a man to lye in his dublet, and a woman in her waste cote.
1603 tr. Batchelars Banquet iii. sig. C2v Then comes downe mistresse Nurse as fine as a farthing fiddle, in her petticoate and kertle, hauing on a white wastcoate, with a flaunting cambricke ruffe about her neck.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 95/1 Wastcoat or Waistcoat..is an Habit or Garment generally worn by the middle and lower sort of Women.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 15. ¶4 A Furbelow of precious Stones, an Hat buttoned with a Diamond, a Brocade Waistcoat or Petticoat, are standing Topicks.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > worn beneath woman's gown > for foreign woman
waistcoat1600
1600 R. Hakluyt tr. G. B. Ramusio in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 369 The [Indian] women weare of the sayd Turqueses at their nostrils and eares, and very good wast-coats and other garments.
1625 R. Withers tr. O. Bon Grand Signors Seraglio x, in S. Purchas Pilgrimes II. ix. xv. 1602 They [sc. the women] sleepe as the men doe, in linnen Breeches, and in quilted Wast-coats.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. xii. 56 Their Wascoats made like bodies, with skirts, laced likewise with gold or silver.
1707 W. Funnell Voy. round World ix. 254 [The Malayan women] wear a Linnen Waste-coat, which reaches no lower than the lower part of their Breasts.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > underwear > [noun] > bodice
waistcoat1580
petticoat body1585
bodicea1625
jump1666
jacket bodice1856
camisole1866
spencer1881
bust bodice1889
liberty bodice1892
petticoat bodice1919
cami1995
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Vne Chemise de drap, or chemiselle, a wastcoat.
1747 Lady M. W. Montagu St. James's Coffee-house in Town Eclogues 75 Her night-cloaths tumbled with resistless grace, And her bright hair play'd careless round her face; Reaching the kettle, made her gown unpin, She wore no waistcoat, and her shift was thin.
1760 S. Fielding Ophelia I. vii. 41 I [i.e. a woman] had never worn any Thing round my Waist, but thin Waistcoats.
d. A garment or a bodice-front designed in imitation of the masculine waistcoat.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > bodice > parts of
waistcoat1711
stay-hook1743
mantilla1835
plastron1857
Basque1860
jabot1881
Amadis1898
corsage1911
halter1935
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > bodice > like man's waistcoat
waistcoat1711
gilet1865
1711 T. Tickell Spectator No. 104. ⁋3.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. iv. 98 Trolloping things our mothers must have looked [in riding dress of the 18th c.], with long square-cut coats..and with waistcoats plentifully supplied with a length of pocket, which [etc.].
1883 Truth 31 May 768/2 The bodice had a sweet little waistcoat, over which the edges of the embroidered linen almost met.
1913 Play Pictorial No. 134. p. ii./1 Waistcoats [for ladies] are growing more and more in popularity, and the waistcoat blouse is one of the latest novelties.
Compounds
General attributive.
waistcoat button n.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > waistcoat > parts of
waistcoat button1787
vest-pocket1823
Basque1860
1787 in 6th Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. App. ii. 178 Of a new method of making..Coat and Waistcoat Buttons.
1859 Habits Good Society iii. 142 Elaborate studs, waist~coat-buttons, and wrist-links, are all abominable.
waistcoat-piece n.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > waistcoat
waistcoat1519
vest1666
petticoat1691
jacket1705
fecket1755
waistcoat-piece1789
under-waistcoat1794
vest-slip1920
1789 J. Woodforde Diary 19 Sept. (1927) III. 193 Gave my Servant Man Ben a Waistcoat Piece.
1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley (ed. 4) i. 12 There is not a shop within twenty miles that would furnish me with such a waistcoat-piece as I should choose to wear.
waistcoat-pocket n.
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1760 S. Johnson Idler 9 Feb. 41 He now openly declares his Resolution to become a Gentleman;..carries Silver, for Readiness, in his Waistcoat-pocket.
waistcoat-pocketful n.
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1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. v. 153 The portress receiving placidly a sort of dirty flattened sixpence..and returning me a waistcoat-pocketful of the loveliest little clean-struck centimes.
waistcoat-string n.
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1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. II. 64 Watkins, falling bump on his knees, and breaking two brace-buttons, and a waistcoat-string, in the act.
Derivatives
ˈwaistcoatful n. as much (of anything) as would fill, or cover, the waistcoat.Apparently an isolated use.
Π
1824 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. II. viii. 143 The people..would have added new decorations to his waistcoatful of orders.
ˈwaistcoating n. a textile fabric made esp. for men's waistcoats.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric for specific purpose > [noun] > for clothing > for vests or waistcoats
waistcoating1809
vesting1813
1809 M. Edgeworth Dun in Tales Fashionable Life II. 315 Mrs. Carver bespoke from him two pieces of waistcoating.
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 4071 Fancy waistcoatings and skirtings.
ˈwaistcoatless adj. wearing no waistcoat.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for body (and limbs) > wearing a waistcoat > not
waistcoatlessa1876
vestless1888
a1876 M. Collins Pen Sketches (1879) I. 10 I sat in his courtyard, coatless and waistcoatless.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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