bikini

Forms

bikini m (plural bikinis)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French Bikini, the name of an atoll of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, made famous in 1946 by the first American atomic bomb test there.^[2][3][4] The TLFi gives the source as the Anglo-American name Bikini.^[2] Wiktionary traces the place name to German Bikini, the colonial name of the atoll, from Marshallese Pikinni.^[2][1] Etymonline reports a derivation of the local name from pik (“surface”) and ni (“coconut”), but calls it uncertain.^[5] The name was given to the swimsuit in France soon after the test, because it was supposed to have an explosive effect, like the bomb.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Louis Réard registered bikini as a trademark on 20 June 1946, together with monokini.^[2][3] Other dictionaries date the word to about 1947.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The tiny two-piece swimsuit came into fashion just after the war and caused something of a scandal, so that some Catholic countries at first banned it.^[3] The word passed into many other languages;^[3][2][5] American English had it from 1948, after first using bikini for a huge explosion (1947).^[3][2][5] The Petit Robert now marks the word as dated, and Rey notes that it calls up the years 1946 to about 1970.^[8][3] Monokini, registered at the same time from a playful analysis of bikini as bi- “two” plus -kini, spread later for a swimsuit without a top.^[3]

Timeline

• 1946 – Louis Réard registers bikini and monokini as trademarks.^[2][3]
• 1947 – American English uses bikini for a huge explosion.^[3]
• 1948 – English takes the word for the swimsuit.^[3][5]
• 1954 – Simone de Beauvoir uses it in Les Mandarins.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A very small women's two-piece swimsuit, with a top covering the breasts and briefs; a deux-pièces.^[2][8][6]

Word family

• monokini

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert