joseph

See also: Joseph

English

Etymology

Probably in allusion to Joseph's coat of many colours in Genesis 37:3.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒəʊsəf/
• (US) enPR: jō'səf, IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒoʊsəf/
• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -əʊsəf, (US) -oʊsəf

Noun

joseph (plural josephs)

1. (sometimes capitalised) A woman's riding habit worn in the 18th century with a long cape and buttons running down the front.
   • 1861, George Eliot, “Chapter 11”, in Silas Marner:

     Some women, I grant, would not appear to advantage seated on a pillion, and attired in a drab joseph and a drab beaver-bonnet . . . travelling on pillions in snowy weather was unpleasant, though a joseph was a great protection . . . these ladies were so taken by surprise at finding such a lovely face and figure in an out-of-the-way country place, that they began to feel some curiosity about the dress she would put on when she took off her joseph

References

• “joseph”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Earl, Alice Morse (1894), Costume of Colonial Times‎, C. Scribner's Sons, page 144