mackintosh
(ˈmækɪntɒʃ)
Also † Mackintosh, macintosh.
1. The name of Charles Macintosh (1766–1843), applied attrib. to designate garments made of the waterproof material invented by him (patent no. 4804, 17 June 1823), consisting of two or more layers of cloth cemented together with india-rubber. Now viewed as an attributive use of 3, and written with small initial.
| 1836 Murray's Handbk. N. Germ. p. xx, A Mackintosh cloak is almost indispensable. 1849 Brit. Q. Rev. Feb. 5 Old port, tender mutton and Mackintosh capes are excellent things, no doubt. 1853 Reade Chr. Johnstone 227 A fisherman's long mackintosh coat. 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1875) 39 Jessie put on my mackintosh cloak. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 296/3 Men's Double Texture Mackintosh Box Coats, double breasted, all wool black tricot.., fancy plaid lining, silk velvet collar. |
2. Short for mackintosh cloak, coat, etc. Now freq. used to designate any type of rain-proof coat. Also Comb., as mackintosh-maker.
| 1836 Frith Let. 18 Oct. in Autobiog. (1888) III. 61, I like the mackintosh very much. 1840 Longfellow in Life (1891) I. 365 Sumner striding down Hancock Street in his white mackintosh. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg., Misadv. Margate xiv, I could not see my Macintosh..Nor yet my best white beaver hat. 1851 Illustr. Lond. News 5 Aug. (1854) 119/1 Macintosh-maker. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. Carlyle's Lett. I. 141 Wrapt in an old dressing-gown with mackintosh buttoned round it. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 188/2 Ladies' Single Military Cape Mackintosh. Made from extra fine all wool Scotch mixed cheviot, with fine, soft dressy finish. 1900 Q. Rev. July 56 The bodies of officers having been buried in mackintoshes had not so disappeared. 1956 A. S. C. Ross in N. Mitford Noblesse Oblige 30 Burberry and raincoat are of the same genre, macintosh or mac being normal. |
3. The material of which ‘mackintosh’ garments are made; now applied to any cloth made waterproof by a coating of india-rubber. Also attrib.
| 1880 MacCormac Antisept. Surg. 170 The mackintosh should be dipped, shortly before use, in carbolic solution. 1889 Lancet 27 Apr. 830/1 The bed is covered with a mackintosh sheet. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 429 If necessary, a square of mackintosh is placed under the draw-sheet. 1899 Ibid. VIII. 579 India-rubber or mackintosh coverings are certainly effectual. |