surtout
(sɜːˈtuːt, sɜːˈtuː)
Also 7 sur-toute, 7–8 sur-tout, (8 surtoot, -toit (?), sourtoot, suttout (?), 9 surtoo).
[a. F. surtout, f. sur above + tout everything.]
A man's great-coat or overcoat.
Applied c 1870 to a kind of single-breasted frock-coat with pockets cut diagonally in front.
| 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2108/4 A white Surtout lin'd with black. 1693 Dryden Juvenal iii. 250 The torn Surtout and the tatter'd Vest. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Surtout, a loose, great, or riding Coat. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull ii. iv, He was forced constantly to wear a surtout of oiled cloth, by which means he came home pretty clean. 1731 Swift Answ. Simile 140 And since we find you walk a-foot, We'll soundly souce your frize surtout. 1788 Burns Extempore on W. Smellie 2 The old cock'd hat, the grey surtout. 1800 Weems Washington x. (1877) 113 With a surtout over his regimentals. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. i. Tragedy, He put on his surtout, And went to a man with a beard like a Jew. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xi, He wore a long black surtout reaching nearly to his ancles. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. iv. v, A green surtout of broad cloth over a tight vest of the same colour. 1858 Mrs. Oliphant Laird of Norlaw II. 39 The new coat which his mother called a surtoo. 1870 Dickens E. Drood xviii, Being buttoned up in a tightish blue surtout, with a buff waistcoat and gray trousers. 1894 Crockett Raiders (ed. 3) 160 He was wont to take off his loose surtout and travel in his sleeved waistcoat. |
| attrib. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2106/4 A new Red Coat lin'd with a Buff-colour'd lining, surtout Sleeves. 1687 Ibid. No. 2236/4 A light-colour'd..Sur-toute Coat. 1703 Ibid. No. 3957/4 A Cynnamon-colour Surtoit Coat with black Buttons. 1710 Ibid. No. 4739/4 A dark Suttout Coat. 1759 Phil. Trans. LI. 289 The velvet cape of a surtout coat. |
† b. A hood (with a mantle), worn by women.
| 1690 Evelyn Mundus Muliebris 130 Pins..By which the curls are fastened, In radiant firmament set-out, And over all the hood sur-tout. 1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 11/2 A Surtout, is a Night-Hood, which goes over, or covers the rest of the head geer. 1721 Ramsay Tartana 124 The Hood and Mantle make the tender faint; I'm pain'd to see them moving like a tent..But know each fair who shall this Sur-tout use, You're no more Scots. 1785 G. A. Bellamy Apol. (ed. 3) I. 109 My mother had prudently provided herself with a good surtout. |
† c. fig. An outer covering or integument.
Obs.| 1732 Hist. Litteraria IV. 167 The different sorts of Fruit,..some having a Surtout of a harder Texture, and some softer. 1771 Barrington in Phil. Trans. LXV. 13 This upper..coat is composed also of hairs which are white from the top to the root, and form the winter surtout for the animal. |
† d. Cookery. Applied to various fancy dishes.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Surtout, a Term in the Confectioners Art; as Pistachoes in Surtout... Also a Term in Cookery, as Pigeons dress'd in Surtout. 1743 Lady's Companion (ed. 4) I. 183 A Surtout of Soals. |