pants English · revision 4933

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1840|origins=en pantaloons}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pænts/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortening [[der|en|pantaloons]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) the plural of [[pantaloon]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Trousers: 1840, in American English, in Etymonline and Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The word was at first limited to vulgar and commercial use, and Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1846 called it “a word not made for gentlemen, but ‘gents’”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Shop language also used it for drawers from 1840, and in Britain it now usually means underpants or knickers.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023) The singular ''pant'' is from 1893.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Caught with one's pants down'' is from 1932,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''to wear the pants'', to be the dominant member of a household, by 1931,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''bore the pants off'' from 1933,^(OED 1989) and ''by the seat of one's pants'', by instinct, from 1942, first of pilots.^(Etymonline) A ''pantsuit'' is from 1966, and ''pants suit'' from 1964.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1840 – trousers; drawers.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1893 – ''pant''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1931 – ''wear the pants''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1932 – ''caught with one's pants down''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1942 – ''by the seat of one's pants''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly US)'' [[trousers|alt=Trousers]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British)'' [[underpants|alt=Underpants]] or knickers.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(British, slang)'' Very bad.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fancy-pants]]

+ * [[capri pants]]

+ * [[cargo pants]]

+ * [[harem pants]]

+ * [[pants suit]]

+ * [[tap pants]]

+ * [[training pants]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pantaloons]]

+ * [[pantaloon]]

+ * [[panties]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}