jerkin

First recorded in early 1500s. Possibly related to Dutch jurk (“dress”), itself of unknown origin and not attested before the 17th century. Derivation from Old French jo(u)rne (“day”) has been suggested.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɜː.kɪn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɝ.kɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kɪn

jerkin (plural jerkins)

1. (historical) A type of men's garment popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: a close-fitting collarless jacket, with or without sleeves.
   • 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto First. The Castle.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza VIII, page 30:

     [T]wenty yeomen, two and two, / In hosen black, and jerkins blue, / With falcons broider'd on each breast, / Attended on their lord's behest.

2. A sleeveless jacket, usually leather; a long waistcoat.
   • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 32:

     A tall and very good-looking kid in a jerkin came out of the store and rode the coupé off around the corner and came back walking, his glistening black hair plastered with rain.

   • 1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “Monte Verità”, in The Apple Tree:

     I booked a room at the small hotel and deposited my luggage there. I bought myself strong boots, a pair of breeches, a jerkin, and a couple of shirts. Then I turned my back upon the town and climbed.

• bodice
• doublet
• gherkin

jerkin (plural jerkins)

1. Alternative form of gyrkin

• jerkin the gherkin (etymologically unrelated)

• jerkin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• jinker