E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Joseph (A).
One not to be seduced from his continency by the severest temptation. The reference is to Joseph in Potiphar’s house. (Gen. xxxix.) (See BELLEROPHON.)
1
A joseph. A great coat, so called after Joseph, who wore a garment or coat of many colours.
2
“At length, Mrs. Buby herself made her appearance; her venerable person, endued with what was then called a joseph, an ample garment, which had once been green, but now, betwixt stains and patches, had become like the vesture of the patriarch whose name it bore—a garment of divers colours.”—Sir W. Scott: The Pirate, chap. xi.
