bluecoat

English

A boy in a bluecoat costume.

Etymology

blue +‎ coat

Noun

bluecoat (plural bluecoats)

1. (British, often attributive) A pupil attending any of certain prestigious British schools having a traditional dress code.

   This was a bluecoat school in my day.

2. (US history) A soldier or officer in the Union army during the American Civil War
   • 2009 January 18, Ralph Blumenthal, “Re-enactor Is Indicted in Shooting of a Yankee”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The shot wounded Thomas Lord, a 73-year-old former New York City police officer from Suffolk, Va., and a bluecoat with the Seventh New York Volunteer Cavalry.

3. (dated) A policeman
   • 1900, Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie‎^[2]:

     "The offices are up those steps," said the bluecoat.

Synonyms

• (police officer): see Thesaurus:police officer

Translations

soldier in the Union army

• Czech: modrokabátník m