subs. (common).—Originally applied to the uniform of the Lady Margaret Boat Club of St. John’s College, Cambridge, which was of a bright red, and was called a BLAZER. Now applied to any light jacket of bright colour, worn at cricket or other sports. Prof. Skeat [Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii, 436], speaking of the JOHNIAN BLAZER, says it was always of the most brilliant scarlet, and thinks it not improbable that the fact suggested the name which subsequently became general.
1880. Times, June 19. Men in spotless flannels, and club BLAZERS.
1885. Punch, June 27, 304. On the morning of the start for our ‘Spin to Brighton,’ Harkaway turns up clad in what he calls a BLAZER, which makes him look like a nigger minstrel out for a holiday.
1889. Daily News, Aug. 22, 6, col. 6. DRESS BY THE SEA. SIR,—In your article of to-day, under the above heading, you speak of ‘a striped red and black BLAZER,’ ‘the BLAZER,’ also of ‘the pale toned’ ones. This is worth noting, as a case of the specific becoming the generic. A BLAZER is the red flannel boating jacket, worn by the Lady Margaret, St. John’s College, Cambridge, Boat Club. When I was at Cambridge it meant that and nothing else. It seems from your article that a BLAZER now means a coloured flannel jacket, whether for cricket, tennis, boating, or seaside wear.—Yours faithfully, WALTER WREN.
2. (nautical).—A term applied to mortar or bomb vessels, from the great emission of flame to throw a 13-inch shell.—ADMIRAL SMYTH.
