manteau

M3A1N1T1E1A1U1
/ˈmæntəʊ/

noun

A cloak or gown, especially of a kind popular with women in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Scrabble 9

Meanings

nounmanteau (plural manteaus or manteaux)

plural manteaus · plural manteaux

  1. A cloak or gown, especially of a kind popular with women in the 17th and 18th centuries.

    Not to mention the need to keep her manteau from becoming a sort of anti-parachute which sought to lift her free of the pavement.

    2006, Thomas Pynchon, “Against the Day”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 816
  2. A long, loose-fitting coat worn by Iranian Muslim women based off the trenchcoat, originally worn with a square Arabic-style hijab and in plain colours, and often associated with liberal politics.
    1 more example

    As a result of this politics of personal appearance, Iranians have come to refer to three types of woman, defining their politics by the clothes they wear: the chadory, the manteauy, and the maghna'eh-poosh. […] In contrast, the manteauy woman wears the loose-fitting manteau, often fashionably with a colorful, loosely tied head scarf. She generally supports both political and social reform.

    2010, Afshin Molavi, The Soul of Iran: A Nation's Struggle for Freedom, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 91

Origin

  1. Persianمانتو
  2. Frenchmanteau“mantle”
  3. Englishmanteau

Borrowed from French manteau (“mantle”). In the Iranian context, borrowed from Persian مانتو (mânto), originating in the Qajar period. Doublet of mantle and mantel.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with manteau

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Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

manteau. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manteau

MLA

“manteau.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manteau. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “manteau,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manteau.

Source: manteau on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.