What does coate mean?
"Coate" is an obsolete spelling of the word now written "coat." It denotes the same thing its modern counterpart does: an outer garment worn on the upper body, typically with sleeves and open at the front. In earlier centuries the word could also refer more broadly to garments such as tunics, cloaks, or petticoats, just as "coat" did at the time. Because English orthography was not standardized until well after the invention of printing, writers spelled many common words variably, and "coate" appears frequently in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century letters, wills, inventories, and literary works alongside spellings like "cot" and "cote." Today the form has no independent meaning and survives mainly in historical documents, scholarly editions, and genealogical records. Anyone reading an old text who comes across "coate" can safely understand it as simply "coat" — a reminder that English spelling was once far more fluid than it is today.
noun"Coate" is an obsolete English spelling of "coat," referring to an outer garment worn on the upper body, or historically to a garment such as a tunic or cloak.
- An outer garment covering the upper body (obsolete spelling of "coat").
"In the parish register of 1612, the tailor's inventory listed a woolen coate trimmed with braid."
"The will described the deceased's possessions: one felt hat, two shirts, and a good cloth coate."
"He buttoned his coate against the winter wind as recorded in the old chronicle."
The plural follows the same archaic pattern as the singular and appears only in historical sources.
"The inventory recorded three coates hanging in the merchant's shop."
Before spelling settled down in English, the same word on your back could be written coat, coate, or cote — sometimes all three by the same author.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of coate
The word ultimately derives from Old French "cote," meaning a robe or tunic, which itself came from Germanic origins. It was adopted into Middle English, where it was spelled in various ways including "cote," "cot," and later "coate" under the influence of the fashion for silent final -e in early modern English. The spelling "coate" flourished roughly between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and gradually gave way to the modern spelling "coat" as English orthography became standardized through dictionaries and printing conventions. Cognates include the French "cote" and compound forms like "surcoat" and "petticoat," which preserve the same root.
How coate is actually used
"Coate" is not used in contemporary English except in transcriptions or facsimiles of early modern texts. Readers encountering it should treat it exactly as "coat." It is most often seen in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century documents before spelling standardization.
Easily confused with coate
"Coat" is the standard modern spelling and the only current form; "coate" is simply an older spelling variant found in historical texts.
A "cote" is a shelter for animals, such as a dovecote or sheepcote, whereas "coate" is merely an archaic spelling of coat.