redingote

English

Etymology

From French redingote, itself from English riding-coat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛdɪŋɡəʊt/

Noun

redingote (plural redingotes)

1. (historical) A long coat or greatcoat for men. [from 18th c.]
   • 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 140:

     In the corner of certain drawing are to be seen Adam himself and his French assistant, Clérisseau, sketching away in their dashing tricornes and redingotes, very much as one might imagine the two young men in Così fan tutte.

   • 2001, WG Sebald, translated by Anthea Bell, Austerlitz, Penguin, published 2011, page 199:

     I came upon a darkly looming building, from the dungeon-like basement of which there emerged a caretaker called Bartoloměj Smečka, a veteran, it seemed, of long-lost campaigns, clad in a crumpled redingote and a flowered fancy waistcoat with a gold watch-chain draped over it […]

2. A women's dress coat or long fitted coat with a flared skirt. [from 19th c.]
   • 1955 March 25, ‘Farewell with Fanfare’, Time:

     Mrs. Hobby, dressed in a brown and white silk redingote, blinked back tears as the President recalled their first meeting in London in 1942, when Oveta was commander of the WAAC (later the WAC).

French

Etymology

Hobson-Jobson of English riding-coat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.dɛ̃.ɡɔt/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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Noun

redingote f (plural redingotes)

1. frock coat
   • 1857, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary […] ‎^[1], Paris: Michel Lévy Frères:

     Suivant leur position sociale différente, ils avaient des habits, des redingotes, des vestes, des habits-vestes: — bons habits, entourés de toute la considération d'une famille, et qui ne sortaient de l'armoire que pour les solennités; redingotes à grandes basques flottant au vent, à collet cylindrique, à poches larges comme des sacs; […] .

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1924, Emmanuel Bove, Mes amis [My Friends]‎^[2], Paris: Émile-Paul Frères:

     J’ai l’habitude de voir des gens riches, dehors. Mais ici, debout, touchant du bout des doigts son bureau, avec sa redingote dont les boutons étaient recouverts d’étoffe, avec sa chemise empesée qui ne le gênait pas, il m’écrasait de sa supériorité.

     I am used to seeing rich people when I go out. But here, stood up, touching his desk with his fingertips, wearing a frock coat with fabric-covered buttons, unencumbered by his starched shirt, his superiority was overwhelming.

Further reading

• “redingote”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.