pants
/pænts/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.48 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers.
Australian usage; Canadian usage; Indian usage; New Zealand usage; American usage
noun
An undergarment that covers the genitals and often the buttocks and the neighbouring parts of the body; underpants.
British usage
Example Sentences
- "“But they cover the legs,” Joseph explained. “That is the only reason my people wear pants: to cover the legs in the winter, or when traveling through rough country, full of thorns. In warm weather, or in open country, pants are unnecessary, uncomfortable, and foolish.”"
- "It's in the evening after dark when the blackleg miner creeps to work. With his moleskin pants and his dirty shirt, there goes the blackleg miner."
- "Then he gave me a last desperate push and I tripped over the shorts caught around my ankles and fell down. I tried to pull my pants up with my boxing gloves but without success.[…]In those days nobody wore underpants and I was bare-arsed and fancy free in front of everyone."
- "Look for pants with reinforced seats and knees and full-length side zippers that make it possible to put the pants on while you are wearing boots, crampons, skis, or snowshoes."
- "I rolled up the legs of the pants, then I went back into the trees."
- "The episode also opens with an inspired bit of business for Homer, who blithely refuses to acquiesce to an elderly neighbor’s utterly reasonable request that he help make the process of selling her house easier by wearing pants when he gallivants about in front of windows, throw out his impressive collection of rotting Jack-O-Lanterns from previous Halloweens and take out his garbage, as it’s attracting wildlife (cue moose and Northern Exposure theme song)."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-énts Proto-Indo-European *ph₂énts? Proto-Hellenic *pánts Ancient Greek πᾶς (pâs) Ancient Greek ἔλεος (éleos) Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Ancient Greek -έω (-éō) Ancient Greek ἐλεέω (eleéō) Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ Ancient Greek -μων (-mōn) Ancient Greek ἐλεήμων (eleḗmōn) Ancient Greek Παντελεήμων (Panteleḗmōn)der. Italian Pantalonebor. French pantalonbor. English pantaloon English pantaloons English pants Shortened from pantaloons (“trousers”): borrowed from French pantalon, itself derived from Italian Pantalone, one of the principal characters found in commedia dell'arte, who wore tight trousers. Doublet of pantsu. The verb is from the noun.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pænts/
- British English: /pænts/
Usage
Inflected Forms
pant (attributive)
more pants (comparative)
most pants (superlative)
pantses (present, singular)
pantsing (participle, present)
pantsed (participle, past)
pantsed (past)