joseph's coat noun Usage: usually capitalized J Etymology: after Joseph, Old Testament patriarch; from his coat of many colors (Gen 37:3 — AV) 1.: a coat of many colors < a country as dappled and patchy as Joseph's coat — T.H.Fielding > 2.: any of certain plants with variegated foliage: as a.: a tampala with red and green variegated leaves grown as an ornamental b.: coleus 2