hap·pi coat

(hăp′ē)

A short, lightweight Japanese jacket or robe having wide straight sleeves and an open front, often fastened with ties.

[Japanese happi, alteration of earlier hampi : han, half (from Early Middle Chinese pan^h) + -pi, combining form of hi, arm (from Early Middle Chinese pjiə^h, pji^h), perhaps influenced by Japanese happi, a cloth placed by a monk over a chair while performing a memorial service, from earlier Japanese hafuhi : hafu, dharma (Modern Japanese hō) + hi, a kind of garment.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

References in periodicals archive

Jenkins, wearing a blue happi coat, smiled and shook hands with shoppers as he handed them Koshihikari rice and Okesa persimmons, a specialty of Sado.

Ex-abductee Soga's husband Jenkins promotes Sado rice

In the welcoming ceremony, Japanese boys wore happi coats, Japan's traditional workman's short coat, and beat ''wadaiko'' drums while girls clad in kimono performed dances and played 13-stringed horizontal ''koto'' harps.

FEATURE: Japanese, S. Korean primary school children exchange visits

Kids dressed in happi coats and kimonos are irresistible, as is the smell of chicken teriyaki on the grill.

Listen to Japan: Obon is the best time to check out San Jose's rising Japantown

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