surtout

English

Etymology

From French surtout.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sɜːˈtuː(t)/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -uː, -uːt

Noun

surtout (plural surtouts)

1. A man's overcoat; a close-bodied frock coat.
   • 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter VII, in Jane Eyre. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 109:

     Yes, I was right: it was Mr. Brocklehurst, buttoned up in a surtout, and looking longer, narrower, and more rigid than ever.

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 68, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     The house had been new painted, and smelt of varnish and turpentine, and a large streak of white paint inflicted itself on the back of the old boy’s fur-collared surtout.

   • 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 41:

     He was dressed in the suit he'd bought for his mother's funeral, beaver top hat, silk surtout.

2. (fortifications) A raised portion of the parapet of a work at the angles, to protect from enfilade fire.

Derived terms

• surtouted
• wooden surtout

Anagrams

• rust out, tutours

French

Etymology

From sur +‎ tout. Akin to Italian soprattutto and Spanish sobre todo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /syʁ.tu/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adverb

surtout

1. above all
2. especially

Derived terms

• surtout que

Noun

surtout m (plural surtouts)

1. surtout (overcoat)

Further reading

• “surtout”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012