Etymologically
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mackintosh

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmækɪntɒʃ/ (UK); /ˈmækɪntɑʃ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is named after Charles Macintosh (1766–1843), the Scottish chemist who invented a waterproofing process,[2][3][4][5][6] patented in 1823.[4][7][8] The surname is from Scottish Gaelic Mac an toisich (“son of the chieftain”).[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an attribute, garments made of Macintosh's waterproof material, and short for a mackintosh coat (1836 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).[9][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Macintosh's method bound two layers of fabric together with india rubber dissolved in naphtha.[8] From 1880 the word also named the material,[9] any cloth made waterproof with rubber.[9][10] In British use it came to mean any raincoat.[9][5][11] The McIntosh apple is named after John McIntosh of Upper Canada, a different man.[4]

Timeline

  • 1823 – Macintosh's patent.[4][8]
  • 1836 – a mackintosh coat.[9][3][5]
  • 1880 – the rubberized material.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A raincoat, originally one made of rubberized cloth.
  2. A lightweight waterproof fabric, originally of rubberized cotton.

Word family

  • mackintoshed
  • oilskin
  • mac
  • raincoat
  • wellington
  • cardigan

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  8. ^ a b c Cassell's Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, London: Cassell
  9. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins