petticoat--prophetes.ai

▪ I. petticoat, n. (a.)
    (ˈpɛtɪkəʊt)
    Forms: α. 5 pety coote, 6 pety cote, 7 petty coat, pettie coat. β. 5 pettecote; 5–7 pety-, 6–7 peti-, pettycote; 6 peteekot; peticoot, petticoit(e; 6–7 petti-, pettycoate; pette-, peticoate; 7 peticoat, pettie-coat, 7–8 pettycoat, petty-coat; 6– petticoat.
    [Orig. two words, petty coat, lit. little or small coat (cf. OF. cote, mod.F. cotte petticoat, cotte simple under-petticoat). From an early period written as one word, or less usually hyphened.]
    1. † a. A small coat worn by men beneath the doublet; in quot. 1412–20 app. a short coat worn as armour. Obs. b. dial. (from 17th c.) A waistcoat.

a. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxii. (1555), The famous knyghtes arme them in y⊇ place... A payre gussettes on a pety coote. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 395/1 Petycote, tunicula. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 872 Se that youre souerayne haue clene shurt & breche, A petycote, a dublett, a longe coote. 1474 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 26, j elne of skarlete for a petticote to the King..Ls. 1542 Boorde Dyetary viii. (1870) 249 Next your sherte vse to were a petycote of skarlet.

b. 1674 Ray S. & E.C. Words (1691) 109 A Petticoat, is in some places used for a Mans Wastcoat. 1736 J. Lewis Isle Tenet Gloss. (E.D.S.), Petty-coat, a man or boy's waistcoat. [Hence in Pegge Kenticisms.] 1834 J. R. Planché Brit. Costume 181. 1887 in Kent. Gloss.

    2. gen. A garment worn by women, girls, and young children (perh. orig. a kind of tunic or chemise, but) usually a skirt dependent from the waist. Also used as the equivalent for some similar Greek or Roman female garment.
    (Of the following early quots., several prob. belong to the specific senses a and b.)
    1464 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 544 Item, for makenge of ij. petycotes for mastres Marget and m. Anne, iiij.d. 1520 Sir R. Elyot Will in Elyot's Gov. (1883) I. App. A. 312 Every of their wifes a white petycote. 1530 Palsgr. 253/2 Petycote, corset simple, cotte simple, chemise de blanchet. c 1532 Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 906 The petycote, la cotte simple. 1558 Aberdeen Regr. (1844) I. 309 For the wrangous reiffing and away taking fra hir of ane plyd, ane petticoitt [etc.]. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1629) 235 Sixe maides, all in one liuerie of scarlet peticotes, which were tucked vp almost to their knees. 1661 Evelyn Tyrannus 10 Those who sacrific'd to Ceres put on the pettycoat with much confidence. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. I. 98 A statue of Minerva, with a petticoat of red porphyry.
    spec. a. A skirt as distinguished from a bodice, worn either externally, or beneath the gown or frock as part of the costume, and trimmed or ornamented; an outer, upper, or show petticoat.

1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 39 The fringe of your sattin peticote is ript. a 1641 Suckling Poems (1646) 38 Her feet beneath her Petticoat Like little mice stole in and out. 1662 Pepys Diary 18 May, She was in her new suit of black sarcenet and yellow petticoate very pretty. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 129 ¶8 A Lady..entered..in..a hoop'd Petticoat. 1711 Steele ibid. No. 145 ¶7 There is not one of us but has reduced our outward Petticoat to its ancient Sizable Circumference, tho' indeed we retain still a Quilted one underneath. 1712 Spect. No. 277 ¶13 The Puppet was dressed in a Cherry-coloured Gown and Petticoat. 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 14 Sept., Their Whalebone petticoats outdo ours by several yards' circumference. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier ii. 248 One of my Comerades in the Farmer's Wife's Russet Gown and Petticoat, like a Woman. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. viii, I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud,..and the gown which had been let down to hide it not doing its office. 1815 Zeluca I. 78 Her figure would best be displayed in the vandyke petticoat. 1816 J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 109 Their boddices contrasted against their petticoats with the judgement of a painter. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. ix, A skirt, or upper petticoat, of camlet. 1881 Truth 19 May 686/2 One of her Court dresses has the bodice of sky-blue satin... The petticoat is of net, covered with silver lace.

b. An under-skirt of calico, flannel, or other material.
(In early quotations not easily separable from a.)

1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 5 But for these other goods, Vnbinde my hands, Ile pull them off my selfe, Yea all my raiment, to my petticoate. 1625 Meade in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 201 She came out of her bedchamber in her petticoat. 1662 Pepys Diary 21 May, Saw the finest smocks and linnen petticoats of my Lady Castlemaine's. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 295 ¶10 He would..have presented her..with the Sheering of his Sheep for her Under-Petticoats. 1812 Poet. Sk. Scarborough (ed. 2) 138 While Kate was like a crouching goddess, In only petticoat and boddice. 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz, Mr. Watkins Tottle i, I said, jokingly, that when I went to bed I should wrap my head in Fanny's flannel petticoat. 1844 Mrs. Sherwood Hist. J. Marten xv. 205 A good flannel petticoat ought to be little the worse for one year's wear. 1848 [cf. crinoline 4].

† c. The skirt of a woman's riding-habit. Obs.

1663 Pepys Diary 13 July, The..Queene..in..a white laced waistcoate and a crimson short pettycoate,..mighty pretty; and the King rode hand in hand with her. 1666 Ibid. 12 June, The Ladies of Honour dressed in their riding garbs, with coats and doublets.., with perriwigs and with hats; so that, only for a long petticoat dragging under their men's coats, nobody could take them for women. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 104 ¶2. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. ix, A skirt, or upper petticoat, of camlet, like those worn [in 18th c.] by country ladies of moderate rank when on horseback.

d. Applied also to the rudimentary garment worn by women among primitive peoples, e.g. the ‘grass petticoat’ of Papuan women.

1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 156 Over their Lower Parts a Pitticoat or Lungy, their Feet and Legs without Stockins. a 1704 T. Brown Walk round London (1709) 41 Our good Grandmother Eve might have sav'd her self a great deal of trouble in tacking together Primitive Green Petticoat and Wastcoat. 1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 336 The Women have short Petticoats made of Silk Grass.

3. pl. Skirts collectively, upper and under; also, skirts worn by children, including young boys: chiefly in phrase (said of a young boy) in petticoats.

1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 15 They are but burs,..if we walke not in the trodden paths, our very petty-coates will catch them. 1650 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples i. (1664) 78 He commanded also that all women..shold tuck their petti⁓coats somwhat high. 1727 Swift Country Post Wks. 1755 III. i. 176 A mouse..took shelter under Dolly's petticoats. 1818 I. Taylor Scenes Europe (1821) §67 A young Dutch [peasant] girl in her holiday suit,..with petticoats only half down the leg. 1833 H. Martineau Three Ages iii. 85 The country was chalky, and whitened the hems of her petticoats. 1837 Marryat Dog-fiend xiv, The old woman..executed her parental authority as if he were still in petti⁓coats. 1877 Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 253, I have known him ever since he was in petticoats. 1887 Daily News 23 Sept. 5/1 Both in batting and bowling, however, petti⁓coats are decidedly hindering, especially in windy weather. 1898 Cycling xii. 72 Petticoats, which only hamper the action of the knees, must absolutely be discarded.

4. (chiefly pl.) As the characteristic or typical feminine garment; hence as the symbol of the female sex or character. to wear petticoats or be in petticoats, to be a woman, to behave as befits a woman. a Nero (or other male) in petticoats, a female counterpart to Nero, or other man specified.

1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. v. 23 That you might still haue worne the Petticoat, And ne're haue stolne the Breech from Lancaster. 1702 Addison Medals ii. Misc. Wks. 1726 III. 36 It is a great compliment methinks to the sex,..that your Virtues are generally shown in petticoats. a 1715 Burnet Own Time i. (1724) 83 A saying that went of her [Lady Falconbridge], that those who wore breeches deserved petti⁓coats better, but if those in petticoats had been in breeches, they would have held faster. 1766 Chesterfield Lett. to Godson (1898) 210 Ignorance is only pardonable in petty⁓coats. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xi, Since she wears a petticoat..I will answer for her protection as well as a single man may. 1853 Kingsley Misc., Shelley & Byron (1859) I. 321 Beatrice Cenci is really none other than Percy Bysshe Shelley himself in petticoats. 1880 Ouida Moths I. 39 She was a sort of Wesley in petticoats.

b. (sing.) The wearer of a petticoat; a female; the female sex.

1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. iv. 7 But I must comfort the weaker vessell, as doublet and hose ought to show it selfe coragious to petty-coate. a 1657 R. Loveday Lett. (1663) 118 The Maistre de Hostell still keeps his state with the better sort of petticoats. 1728 Young Love Fame v, Vain is the task to petticoats assign'd, If wanton language shews a naked mind. 1776 J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 155 Rather than give up this, which would completely subject us to the despotism of the petticoat, I hope [etc.]. 1864 G. Meredith Emilia xxv, Must give up business to-day. Can't do business with a petticoat in the room. 1898 Daily News 1 Aug. 4/7 There was as much force as brutality in his [Bismarck's] exclamation that the Emperor Frederick's death would put an end to the rule of ‘petticoats in politics’.

5. A wide outer garment, made of oilskins or rough canvas, worn by fishermen in warm weather, and reaching below the knee, often undivided: cf. petticoat trousers in 9. U.S.

1890 in Cent. Dict. 1895 in Funk's Stand. Dict.

b. Applied humorously or contemptuously to the skirts of a scholar's or clergyman's gown; also descriptively to the kilt of the Highlander or Highland regiments, the fustanella of the Greek, and similar male garments.

c 1730 Burt Lett. N. Scot. (1754) II. xxii. 189 That they [Highlanders] would not be so free to skip over the Rocks and Bogs with Breeches, as they are in the short Petticoat. 1849 F. L. Mortimer Near Home, Turkey 357 It would astonish you to see how fast they [dancing dervishes] turn round in their full white petticoats. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. (1871) II. 34 Artists and actors represented Bruce and Douglas in striped petticoats.

6. transf. a. A toilet-table cover reaching down to the floor. b. A sheeting hung round a yacht while being launched, to hide its outlines. c. A projecting fringe-like part forming the foot of a tankard, etc. d. Archery. ‘The ground of a target beyond the white’; the spoon. e. = petticoat insulator: see 9.

1864 Webster, Petticoat, the outer space or surface of a target. [Eng.] 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 378/2 Petticoat, or Spoon, the ground of the target beyond the white. 1880 Baring-Gould Mehalah xii. (1884) 164 The dressing-table had a pink petticoat with gauze over it. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 24 June 7/2 Shamrock is to be launched ‘in petticoats’ on Monday. 1899 Daily News 27 June 7/3 A long curtain or ‘petticoat’ hung over the stern of the boat, and, reaching to the ground, effectually prevented any view of the keel and lower part of the yacht. 1903 P. Macquoid in Burlington Mag. Apr., In about 1640..the tankard becomes plain and high with a so-called petticoat shooting out at the bottom.

II. attrib. and Comb.
7. simple attrib. Of a petticoat or petticoats.

1587 Acc. Bk. in Antiquary XXXII. 118, vj yeardes of petecote lace, xviijd. 1834 Tait's Mag. I. 663/1, I would warrant every knave of them to kiss the hem of the petticoat⁓tail of the smallest member of the sacred conclave. 1844 Mrs. Sherwood Hist. J. Marten xv. 217 It was flannel petticoat time [i.e. for a clothing club distribution]. a 1844 Campbell Ep. to Hor. Smith, In his breeches of petticoat size..his garb is a fair compromise 'Twixt a kilt and a pair of small-clothes. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 664/2 To give you the horrors with, in petticoat days. 1886 Dr. Richardson in Pall Mall G. 27 Sept. 6/2 A petticoated generation could never do the full work of a generation whose limbs were free of petticoat encumbrance.

8. attrib. (often = adj.). a. In petticoats, wearing petticoats; that is a woman, female; womanish. (Often hyphened.) Now rare.

1625 Hart Anat. Ur. ii. vi. 85 The ignorant Empiricke, the peticoate or woman-physitian. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 10 Many a Heccatomb of humble Prayers, does he offer to appease this Petticoat-Deity. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 305 ¶4 A Seminary of Petticoat Politicians, who are to be brought up at the Feet of Madam de Maintenon. 1725 Bailey Erasm. Colloq. (1878) I. 186 What does this Petticoat-Preacher [concionatrix] do here? 1797 M. Robinson Walsingham II. 213 To ridicule the petticoat pedant. 1813 Moore Post-bag (1818) App. iv. 108 A Petticoat Pope in the Ninth Century.

b. Of, belonging, or relating to a woman or women, as the wearers of petticoats; executed, performed, wielded by a woman; female, feminine.

1660 Hickeringill Jamaica (1661) 30 The Petticoat Sex. 1690 Dryden Amphitryon i. i, Venus may know more than both of us, For 'tis some petticoat affair. 1800 Proc. E. Ind. Ho. in Asiat. Ann. Reg. 63/2 He thought this petticoat influence in the India Company, a most curious circumstance! 1806 Francis Lett. (1901) II. 638, I will not go to Petticoat Parties. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xi, He will obey you in making a weapon, or in wielding one, but he knows nothing of this petticoat service. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke xxvii, The coarsest allusions to petticoat influence. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 23 May 4/2 Miss Gertrude Elliott has the only petticoat part [in a play].

9. Special combs: petticoat body, a body attached to or worn with a petticoat; petticoat breeches, loose wide breeches with legs resembling skirts, fashionable during the earlier part of the reign of Charles II; petticoat insulator, an inverted cup-shaped insulator of porcelain or the like that supports a telegraph wire; petticoat-maker, a maker of petticoats, esp. of farthingales; † petticoat-monger, ? a whore-monger; petticoat-pensioner, a man paid by a woman, a woman's ‘fancy-man’; petticoat-pipe, a bell-mouthed pipe in the chimney of a locomotive into which the exhaust-steam enters and which serves to equalize and strengthen the draught; petticoat-trousers, (a) a New England colloquial name for wide baggy trousers; (b) = 5; (c) the wide-seated trousers worn by Muslim women; petticoat-wise adv., in the manner of a petticoat.

1862 Eng. Wom. Dom. Mag. IV. 238/2 Patterns of the newest and most fashionable under-linen, including..petticoat band, *petticoat body. 1891 Flo. Marryat There is no Death xii. 116 She had not got on ‘Rosie's’ petticoat body.

1658 R. Holme in Fairholt Costume in Eng. (1860) 255 A short-waisted doublet and *petticoat-breeches, the lining lower than the breeches tied above the knee. 1860 Fairholt Ibid. Gloss. 399 Towards the end of the reign of Charles the petticoat breeches were discarded.

1552 Huloet, *Peticote maker, indusiarius. 1783 Ainsworth Eng. Lat. Dict.

1605 Tryall Chev. v. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 347 You pick-hatch Cavaliero *petticote-monger.

a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Pettycoat-Pensioner, a Gallant, or one Maintain'd for secret Service. 1825 Knapp & Baldw. Newgate Cal. IV. 327/1 He became a petticoat-pensioner.

1864 Webster, *Petticoat pipe, one of a series of short conical pipes, in a smoke-box, to equalize the draught. 1878 Engineer XLVI. 57/3 A good modification of the well-known American petticoat pipe.

1753 N. Jersey Archives XIX. 291 He took with him..two Pair of *Petticoat Trowsers. 1761 Ibid. XX. 597 Run away..an English servant lad... Had on..long petticoat trowsers, much worn. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Petticoat trowsers, a kind of kilt formerly worn by seamen in general, but latterly principally by fishermen. 1885 Burton Arab. Nts. II. 6 The strings of her petticoat-trowsers.

1903 Daily Chron. 31 Mar. 10/2 Overcoats slung round the loins, *petticoat-wise.

b. petticoat government: (undue) rule or predominance of women in the home, or in politics. So petticoat-governed a., ruled by a woman, hen-pecked.

1702 J. Dunton (title) Petticoat-Government. Ibid. 70 By Petticoat-Government, I mean when Good Women Ascend the Throne, and Rule according to Law, as is the case of the present Queen. Again, by Petticoat-Government, I mean the discreet and housewifely Ruling of a House and Family. 1702 (title) The Prerogative of the Breeches: an answer to Petticoat-Government, written by a True-born English Man. 1731 Fielding Grub-St. Op. i. i, Petticoat-government is a very lamentable thing indeed. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) I. 365 He, being under strict petticoat government..was compelled to get home that night. 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz, Boarding-Ho. i, Mr. Calton seized the hand of the petticoat-governed little man. 1884 Chr. World 19 June 453/1 This..would throw electoral power into the hands of women, and petticoat government would prevail.

▪ II. ˈpetticoat, v. rare.
[f. prec. n.]
a. trans. To clothe in petticoats, put petticoats on; fig. to treat as a woman. b. intr. To wear, or posture in, petticoats. Hence ˈpetticoating vbl. n.

1850 Browning Christmas Eve xxii, Let us hope That no worse blessing befall the Pope, Turned sick at last of to-day's buffoonery, Of posturings and petticoatings. 1895 J. Winsor Mississ. Basin 175 The Shawnees..were restless in being what was termed ‘petticoated’ by the Iroquois.