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cotta

[kot-uh, kaw-tuh]
noun Ecclesiastical.
  1. a surplice.
  2. a short surplice, sleeveless or with short sleeves, worn especially by choristers.
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Origin of cotta

1840–50; < Medieval Latin, variant of cota kind of tunic. See coat
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cotta

Historical Examples

  • General Montero and the Spanish refugees then emerged from the cotta.

    The Philippine Islands

    John Foreman

  • Cotta made a sign to him to take a place by his side, on the same couch.

    Thais

    Anatole France

  • Paphnutius, considering Cotta as nothing but an idolater, did not deign to reply.

    Thais

    Anatole France

  • The Bravo went in with him, and began to help him out of his cotta and cassock.

    Stradella

    F(rancis) Marion Crawford

  • Cotta declares that he had felt no difficulty with Epicurus.

    The Life of Cicero

    Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for cotta

cotta

noun
  1. RC Church a short form of surplice
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Word Origin

C19: from Italian: tunic, from Medieval Latin; see coat
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012