A coat or jacket can be worn by a man or woman.

an overcoat is worm by men over their suits

Hi shenjja,

You might find this Wikipedia entry helpful: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overcoat

In essence, an overcoat is a long coat, often worn in winter as it is designed to be warmer. As others have said, it is most often worn by men and over a suit .

I hope that helps!

A coat is to keep you warm, and could be for men as well as women.

An overcoat is mainly for men, but also is tougher to resist wind and rain. Try searching Google Images:

Overcoats: <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1242&bih=584&ei=BOslW8GeGYH-8gWS0ImoCg&q=overcoat+&oq=overcoat+&gs_l=img.12...0.0.0.1848.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1ac..64.img..0.0.0....0.aMhb_s8Bd3M">https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1242&bih=584&ei=BOslW8GeGYH-8gWS0ImoCg&q=overcoat+&oq=overcoat+&gs_l=img.12...0.0.0.1848.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1ac..64.img..0.0.0....0.aMhb_s8Bd3M</a>;

Coats: <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&biw=1242&bih=584&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=DeslW979C8aW8QW49KKQCg&q=coat+&oq=coat+&gs_l=img.12..0j0i67k1j0j0i67k1j0l6.32236.32943.0.36244.5.5.0.0.0.0.414.414.4-1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.img..4.1.406....0.gDWVh6Jtm5w">https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&biw=1242&bih=584&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=DeslW979C8aW8QW49KKQCg&q=coat+&oq=coat+&gs_l=img.12..0j0i67k1j0j0i67k1j0l6.32236.32943.0.36244.5.5.0.0.0.0.414.414.4-1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.img..4.1.406....0.gDWVh6Jtm5w</a>;

And my theory is destroyed: both searches seem to get similar results. But and overcoat could go 'over' a coat, or it is stronger and more weather resistant.