pajamas

Etymology

It is borrowed from Hindi पाजामा (pājāma)^[2][3][1][4] or Urdu پاجامہ (pājāma),^[1][5][6][7] with the English plural -s as in trousers.^[2] The Indian word comes from Persian پاجامه (pā-jāma, “leg clothing”),^{[1][8][9][10]} a compound of پا (pā, “leg, foot”) and جامه (jāma, “garment, clothing”);^[1][8][9][3] Barnhart and Etymonline call the Persian origin probable.^[2][3] The Persian word for leg is related to Latin pēs and English foot,^[9][10] from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Loose trousers tied at the waist, worn in India by Muslims and taken up by Europeans there: 1800, spelled pai jamahs.^[2][3] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1801,^[11] while Hoad places it in the 18th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In India the garment was worn by women of several classes, by Sikh men and by most Muslims, and the English adopted it for undress and for sleeping;^[4] Hobson-Jobson thought they had probably taken the habit from the Portuguese.^[4] The spelling varied widely at first (pigammahs 1834, peijammahs 1840),^[3] and pajamas is recorded by 1845; this became the American spelling, while British English settled on pyjamas.^[3][2][12] In English the word moved from the trousers alone to a sleeping suit of loose trousers and a jacket,^[8][5] a use Weekley called incorrect.^[7] Hobson-Jobson noted that the word had come into use in London shops,^[4] and later it was also applied to a loose daytime outfit of wide trousers worn by women.^[8][12]

Timeline

• 1800 – pai jamahs, loose trousers tied at the waist, worn in India.^[2][3] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1801.^[11]
• 1828 – paee-jams, worn loose.^[4]
• 1834 – the spelling pigammahs.^[3]
• 1845 – the spelling pajamas.^[2][3]
• late 19th century – pyjamaed, wearing pyjamas.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A loose suit for sleeping or lounging, usually of trousers and a jacket or top: He came down to breakfast still in his pajamas.^[11][12][8]
2. Loose, light trousers tied at the waist, worn by men and women in South Asia and the Near East.^[11][12][8]
3. Women's wide trousers or trouser suit worn for leisure.^[12][8]

Word family

• pajamaed
• pajama

Related words

• pyjamas
• trousers
• foot

Usage notes

Pajamas is the American spelling, and British English writes pyjamas.^[12][3][8] The word is plural, as in a pair of pajamas, but the singular pajama is used before another noun: pajama top, pajama party.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Yule, Henry; Burnell, A. C. (1903), Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, new ed. by William Crooke, London: John Murray
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins