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Glite Dictionary
⛪ A priest 🧥 Person in black coat
blackcoat

blackcoat

1 9.9
A church leader who traditionally wears a black coat
  • noun
  • Archaic
: clérigo
  • Everyone respected the blackcoat for his wisdom and guidance through difficult times.

Examples

  • Many blackcoats attended the annual conference.

  • The village blackcoat visited every home during the holidays.

  • In old novels, the blackcoat often played a central role in village life.

  • The children listened quietly as the blackcoat told stories from the Bible.

  • The blackcoat delivered a powerful sermon yesterday.

  • The blackcoat delivered a heartfelt sermon to the congregation on Sunday morning.

  • As a child, I was fascinated by the stories of the blackcoat who helped those in need.

Surface Forms

blackcoat singular
blackcoats plural

Morphology

blackcoat = black + coat (semi-transparent) = black + coat

While built from 'black' + 'coat', this sense is a conventionalized occupational/metonymic use (clergyman) that a learner may not infer from the literal parts.

Etymology

Blackcoat is an old-fashioned name made from black and coat, because many priests and clergymen once wore a plain black coat. So a blackcoat came to mean a clergyman you could recognise by that dark coat.