Eccl. [med.L. cotta, cota ‘tunica clericis propria’ (Du Cange): see COAT.] A surplice: see quots. 1848, 1865.
1848. J. H. Newman, Loss & Gain (1853), 47. Do you like the short cotta or the long?
1865. Ch. Times, 25 Nov. The Cotta is the Surplice shortened, and with less ample sleeves.
1884. F. M. Crawford, Rom. Singer, I. 23. Putting on his purple cassock and his white cotta.
