rocket 1

Definite, formed of a word cognate with OE rocc, ME rokke (q.v.) meaning 'overgarment' etc., + diminutive suffix -et. The original source word was perhaps Frankish, though it has left no direct attestations in Old French (unless one wishes to interpret AF plurals such as rochés, rochis as such); alternatively, and more likely, the word is actually a borrowing of Old High German (or Old Saxon) roc, rock, roch etc. + suffix. Cognates are also found in Old Occitan, Spanish, Italian etc. where it is likely that they are < northern French. The earliest Insular citations are in Latin contexts, where Latin rochetum, rochatum etc. < French. Two broad sets of forms existed, one represented by the MED/OED headword 'rochet', the other by the MED headword 'roket'/OED headword 'rocket' n1. The former represents the forms found in Francien Old French and partially in (Anglo-) Norman; the latter represents forms showing the common tendency of Norman and Anglo-French to exhibit /k/ for Francien /tʃ/ (which in French later > /ʃ/), a dialect feature shared elswhere in langues d'oïl, e.g. Picard roquet (noted by OED). These forms and the various senses largely overlapped in the medieval period; in Modern English rochet has come to be used for the ecclesiastical garb (and in extended metaphorical senses) while rocket (semi-obsolescent) is more commonly used for the secular garment; but this distinction is not clearly found in medieval sources and hence the words are treated together here. However, both forms are current, if rare, in Hiberno-English dialect for a girl's smock.