mackinaw coat

noun

1. a short double-breasted coat of a thick woolen material, commonly plaid.

noun

1. mainly US and Canadian a thick short double-breasted plaid coatAlso called: mackinaw

type of boat used on the Great Lakes, 1812, from Mackinac, name of a port and island in Michigan, from Ojibway (Algonquian) mitchimakinak “many turtles,” from mishiin- “be many” + mikinaak “snapping turtle.” As a type of heavy blanket given to the Indians by the U.S. government, it is attested from 1822.