blackcoat C2+ Topic:Register & Style US /ˈblækkoʊt/ UK /ˈblækkəʊt/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun archaic term for a clergyman, from the black clerical garb The village blackcoat preached temperance every Sunday. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · archaic term for a... clergymanclericparsonministerpriest Word family Related forms blackcoat Etymology AI details A compound of black + coat, alluding to the black clerical dress; an archaic colloquialism for a clergyman, paralleling redcoat for a soldier. blæc Old English cote Middle English View etymology graph -> Topics Register & Style General Vocabulary External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # blackcoat **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈblækkoʊt/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈblækkəʊt/ ## Meanings 1. archaic term for a clergyman, from the black clerical garb ## Examples - The village blackcoat preached temperance every Sunday. ## Synonyms - clergyman - cleric - parson - minister - priest ## Related Forms - black - coat ## Roots and Affixes - Root: blæc - Root: cote ## Etymology A compound of black + coat, alluding to the black clerical dress; an archaic colloquialism for a clergyman, paralleling redcoat for a soldier. ## AI Etymology Blackcoat is a compound of black + coat, alluding to the black clerical dress; an archaic colloquialism for a clergyman, paralleling redcoat for a soldier. The historical trail runs through blæc in Old English and cote in Old French. Morphologically, blackcoat is transparent: it is a compound of black + coat, alluding to the black clerical dress. Used as a noun, blackcoat now means "archaic term for a clergyman, from the black clerical garb", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as black and coat. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct. ## Topics - Register & Style - General Vocabulary markdown