Forms: 5 iaquet, -ette, 5–6 iaket, -ette, 6 iakett, iackett(e, iakket, iacquet(e, -quit, iakquet, 5–7 iacket, 7– jacket. [a. OF. jaquet, jacquet, dim. of jaque: JACK sb.2]
1. An outer garment for the upper part of the body: orig. the same as, or a shorter form of the jack; now, an outer garment with sleeves, reaching no lower than the waist, worn by boys (as an Eton jacket) and by men in certain occupations; also a short coat without tails (as a Norfolk jacket), worn in shooting, riding, cycling, etc.
Also as second element in shooting-, smoking-, tennis-jacket, and the like.
1462. Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.), 149. Ffor makynge off a jaket off crymysyn clothe ffor my sayd lurd, ij.s. iiij.d.
1464. Nottingham Rec., II. 377. Rede clothe to make jakettes of to þe saudeours.
c. 1483. Caxton, Dialogues, 33/40. Donaas the doblet maker Hath performed my doublet And my Iaquet [F. paltocque].
1527. in Lanc. Wills (Chetham Soc., 1854), 5. Item I giff my white chamlett iakett to be a vestiment to our lady chapell aforsaid.
1530. Palsgr., 233/2. Iacket that hath but four quarters, jacquette.
1548. Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John, 116. The souldiers thought good that it [Christ’s seamless coat] should bee kept whole vncut, and that sum of them shoulde haue the whole iacket to whose lotte it shoulde chaunce.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Hoqueton, a Iacket, a cote of armor.
1599. Thynne, Animadv. (1875), 31. A comone garmente … suche as we call a Ierken or Iackett withoute sleues.
1697. Dampier, Voy., I. 427. Some of them have Iackets made of Plantain leaves, which were as rough as any Bear’s-skin.
1706. Phillips, Jacket, a sort of Garment in Use among Country-People.
1767. T. Hutchinson, Hist. Mass., II. ii. 163. The women put on their husbands hats and jackets.
1834. L. Ritchie, Wand. by Seine, 144. The royal archers led the way, clothed in jackets of vermilion, red, white, and green.
1841. Emerson, Lect. on Times, Wks. (Bohn), II. 260. Before the young American is put into jacket and trousers, he says ‘I want something which I never saw before.’
1897. Hall Caine, Christian, xi. You were only a boy in jackets.
b. That worn by a jockey in horse-racing; now a loose-fitting blouse of silk or satin, of the owner’s distinctive racing colors. Hence, to send in his jacket, take away his jacket, retain his jacket, etc. See J. Rice, Hist. Brit. Turf, 1879.
1856. H. H. Dixon, Post & Paddock, v. 83. The Duke of Bedford … very nearly requested him [Chifney senior] to send in his jacket. Ibid., vi. 89. Sam [Chifney] … mounted the magnificent ‘purple jacket with scarlet sleeves, and gold-braid buttons’ of the Prince. Ibid., xii. 214. Jockey Club law does not acknowledge such a process as ‘sending in a jacket.’… But if masters … force a senior jockey to retain their jacket, they are bound to give him their mounts, and not to … prevent him from seeking for more considerate masters elsewhere. Ibid. He thought nothing … of putting a silk jacket into his pocket, and riding 70 or 80 miles to a meeting, to oblige a friend.
1894. Doyle, S. Holmes (1899), 16/2. I glanced at the card to see the entries. It ran:— … 4. Colonel Ross’s Silver Blaze (black cap, red jacket).
c. A woman’s outer garment analogous to that of boys or men, either loose or close-fitting, and of varying length.
1756. Connoisseur, No. 103, ¶ 5. Her usual dishabille … is, an ordinary stuff jacket and petticoat.
1862. Miss Yonge, C’tess Kate, vii. (1880), 69. To the detriment of that young lady’s muslin jacket.
d. Locally in U.S., = waistcoat. (Cent. Dict.)
e. Applied to something worn or fastened round the body for other purposes than clothing; as a strait-jacket, a swimming-jacket.
f. Phrases. † To line one’s jacket (obs.): see quot. 1611. To dust, swinge, thrash, trim, etc. (a person’s) jacket, to give him a beating. Also in phrases referring to breadth or narrowness of opinions, etc. (quots. 1792, 1896).
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Accoustrer, He stuffes himselfe soundly, hee lines his iacket throughly with liquor.
1687. T. Brown, Saints in Uproar, Wks. 1730, I. 74. I’ll substantially thrash your jacket for you.
1740. Christmas Entertainm., ii. (1883–4), 12. I will swinge his Jacket for him.
1792. Burke, Corr. (1844), III. 367. They were not able to make a schism in their short and narrow jacket.
1845. Buckstone, Green Bushes, I. 13. I’ll dust your jacket if you do that again.
1896. Daily News, 30 April, 6/1. He had ‘widened the jacket’ of his Scotch theological training by mastering the results of the most advanced German speculation.
2. An outer covering, coating or casing of any kind placed round a vessel, as a pipe, steam-cylinder, or boiler, to protect it, prevent escape or access of heat, etc. See also STEAM-JACKET.
1815. Specif. J. Kilby’s Patent, No. 3920. I enclose my brewing vessel in another vessel which I call the case or jacket.
1837. Chambers’ Misc., VI. No. 136. 16. The enclosing of the cylinder in a jacket or drum of wood.
1852. W. Brande, Lect. Arts, 213. Heating a fluid by means of a steam-warmed jacket or coil.
c. 1865. J. Wylde, in Circ. Sc., I. 307/1. The crucible is to be covered by the plumbago jacket.
1898. P. Manson, Trop. Diseases, xxi. 334. The evaporation is best done in a vessel like a glue-pot, in which the milk is not boiled, but is surrounded by a jacket of boiling water.
b. A paper cover or wrapper issued with a bound book, usually with the title printed upon it.
1894. Month, May, 116. It was arrayed in a handsome purple ‘jacket,’ and bore the crown and monogram of George III.
1895. H. Frowde, Lett., 26 June. Paper jackets are being printed for it, worded as shown.
c. U.S. ‘A folded paper or open envelop containing an official document, on which is indorsed an order or other direction respecting the disposition to be made of the document, memoranda respecting its contents, dates of reception and transmission, etc.’ (Cent. Dict.)
3. a. The natural (usually hairy) covering or ‘coat’ of various animals; the fleece (of a sheep), hair (of a dog), fur (of a cat), etc.; also the skin (of a seal, fish, etc.).
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 560. These kindes of Serpents … The Scythale is admirable in her varied Iacket.
c. 1847. Cocks, in Knowledge (1883), 188/2. Herds of Actinia bellis in prime condition—jackets as red as a Kentish cherry.
1865. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., Ser. II. I. II. 242. The recent high price of long wool has tempted some flockmasters to neglect the form, in their eagerness to secure a heavy jacket.
1880. Standard, 20 May, 3/4. As fast as one [seal] is clubbed or shot the skinner with the sharp knife turns it out of its ‘jacket,’ as the skin with the attached blubber is styled.
1882. Daily News, 28 Jan., 2/2. A two-pound perch boiled in its own jacket, and served up with parsley sauce.
1898. Ladies’ Field, 6 Aug., 378/2. I have seen her in July with a magnificent jacket, while every other cat had next to none.
b. The skin of a potato (when cooked with the skin on).
1831. Fraser’s Mag., IV. Aug., 107/2. Miss Dorncliff had never cared a potato’s jacket for Sir John.
1856. Farmer’s Mag., Nov., 378. Potatoes … boiled unpeeled—or as we say, ‘in their jackets.’
1894. Hall Caine, Manxman, 31. A pot of potatoes in their jackets.
c. Path. A formation coating some organ.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., IV. 119. This white jacket, which may be a quarter of an inch thick, easily peels off the subjacent liver.
d. A young seal; so called from the rough fur. Newfoundland.
4. attrib. and Comb., as jacket-collar, -pocket, -stuff, -suit; jacket-bodice, a dress-bodice coming down over the skirt like a jacket; also a jacket-shaped under bodice; jacket poultice, a poultice placed between two folds of stuff; jacket wise adv. or advb. phr., in the manner of a jacket.
1810. Splendid Follies, I. 119. The laundress … had left a deep triangular singe in the very centre of the *jacket-back.
1889. Tablet, 3 Aug., 167. Over her *jacket-bodice she wears a woollen shawl.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, x. Oliver … was at once lugged along the streets by the *jacket-collar, at a rapid pace.
1806. Naval Chron., XV. 453. The crew lost their *jacket knives.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, xxix. He thrust the first book into his *jacket-pocket which he could lay his hand on.
1898. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., V. 149. A *jacket poultice of linseed is a common and for the most part a good application.
1643. Davenant, Unfort. Lovers, Wks. (1673), 133. What skirt’s in fashion now; the *Jacket-way, Down to the hams?
1598. Hakluyt, Voy., I. 387. Aloft their shirts they weare a garment *iacket wise.
Hence Jacketless a., without a jacket; Jackety a. colloq., of the nature of a jacket.
1852. R. S. Surtees, Sponge’s Sp. Tour (1893), 49. His coat was a light jackety sort of thing, with little pockets behind.
1862. Mrs. H. Wood, Channings, vi. Her son … burst into the room jacketless.
1891. T. Hardy, Tess, xxix. ad fin. Tess had come out with her milking-hood only, naked-armed and jacketless.
