pea jacket

See also: peajacket

English

Etymology

Apparently from pee (“the letter P”) + jacket, perhaps after Dutch pijjakker, though this is only attested much later. Compare also later pea coat.

Noun

pea jacket (plural pea jackets)

1. A short woollen overcoat, originally as worn by sailors; a pea coat. [from 18th c.]
   • 1962, JW Goethe, translated by WH Auden and Elizabeth Mayer, Italian Journey, Penguin, published 1970, page 186:

     Since furs are unknown here, I decided to put on a pea-jacket [translating Schifferkutte] which we had brought with us as a joke.

Derived terms

• pea-jacketed