Trousers
Sponsored by Helen Mitchell Came first in group 385 in round 1 with 165 votesbeat Crap on 162 votesbeat Asperity on 157 votesbeat Marquee on 130 votes
Came third in group 97 in round 2 with 143 votesbeaten by Facetious on 273 votesbeaten by Amidships on 167 votesbeat Vacillate on 133 votes
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Attested since the 1610s, from the earlier form trouzes (attested since the 1580s), extended from trouse (1570s), with plural ending typical of things in pairs, from Middle Irish triubhas (“close-fitting shorts”), of uncertain origin. The unexplained intrusive second -r- is perhaps due to the influence of drawers.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɹaʊzəz/
Audio (Received Pronunciation): (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɹaʊzɚz/
Audio (General American): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -aʊzəz, -aʊzə(ɹ)z
- Hyphenation: trou‧sers
Noun
[edit]trousers pl (plural only, attributive trouser)
- An article of clothing that covers the part of the body between the waist and the ankles or knees, and is divided into a separate part for each leg.
- Synonyms: breeches, britches, (all Britain, dialectal) kecks, (chiefly US) pants, (Australia) strides; see also Thesaurus:trousers
- The trousers need to be shortened.
- Why can women wear trousers when men can’t wear skirts?
- 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, “The Dissolution”, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 3:
- It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
- The effect the apparition had on me was to make me start violently, and we all know what happens when you start violently while holding a full cup of tea. The contents of mine flew through the air and came to rest on the trousers of Aubrey Upjohn, MA, moistening them to no little extent. Indeed, it would scarcely be distorting the facts to say that he was now not so much wearing trousers as wearing tea. [...] "I see you have not changed since you were with me at Malvern House," he said in an extremely nasty voice, dabbing at the trousers with a handkerchief. [...] "Frightfully sorry," I said. "Too late to be sorry now. A new pair of trousers ruined. It is doubtful if anything can remove the stain of tea from white flannel."
Usage notes
[edit]- Trouser is found as a singular form in fashion, to refer to a single pair of trousers or a particular line of trousers, but is otherwise generally considered incorrect.
- Usage of pants, trousers, and slacks:
Hyponyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]- all mouth and no trousers
- all mouth and trousers
- bell-bottomed trousers
- bell-bottom trousers
- combat trousers
- drainpipe trousers
- harem trousers
- in short trousers
- long trousers
- overtrousers
- pair of trousers
- peg-top trousers
- put one's trousers on one leg at a time
- put on one's trousers one leg at a time
- saggy trousers
- short trousers
- spongebag trousers
- stovepipe trousers
- trouserettes
- trousersed
- trousersless
- undertrousers
- wear the trousers
- whoops, there go my trousers
Related terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- → Gamilaraay: tharrawurra
- → Irish: treabhsar
- → Jersey Dutch: trāuzer (from the singular)
- → Marshallese: jedo̧ujij
- → Welsh: trowsus, trowser, trywsus
- → Spanish: trusa
Translations
[edit]article of clothing for the lower body — see pants
References
[edit]- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “trousers”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.