Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “bluecoat” come from?

bluecoat (English) comes from English Blue, from Middle English blēwe, from Anglo-Norman blew, from Middle French bleu, from Old French blöe, from Latvian blāvus, from Old High German blāo, from Proto-West Germanic blāu — yellow, blond, grey.

bluecoat (English): A traditional dress code at certain prestigious...

Definitions

  1. A traditional dress code at certain prestigious...

Ancestry of “bluecoat”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishBlueA letterman at Oxford or Cambridge; A member of...
2Middle Englishblēwe—
3Anglo-Normanblewblue
4Middle Frenchbleublue
5Old Frenchblöe—
6Latvianblāvusaccusative plural masculine form of blāvs
7Old High Germanblāoblue, dark, grey; blue; yellow
8Proto-West Germanicblāublue
9Proto-Germanicblēwazblue; a dark bluish or grey colour, black
10Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰlēw-yellow, blond, grey
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰlēw- →