English
pants
Pants is short for pantaloons, from French pantalon, from Pantalone, a tight-trousered commedia dell’arte character.
- Italianc. 1300–presentPantalone1‘Pantalone (commedia dell’arte character)’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpantalon1‘trousers’
- English1500–presentpantaloons1‘trousers’
- Englishearliest quotation 1933pants1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English pants
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1933, Kenneth Roberts, Rabble in Arms: ““But they cover the legs,” Joseph explained. “That is…”.
Lineage
- Italianc. 1300–presentPantaloneWiktionary, English pants‘Pantalone (commedia dell’arte character)’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentpantalonWiktionary, English pants‘trousers’
- English1500–presentpantaloonsWiktionary, English pants‘trousers’
- Englishearliest quotation 1933pantsWiktionary, English pants. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1933, Kenneth Roberts, Rabble in Arms: ““But they cover the legs,” Joseph explained. “That is…”
The story
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.
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Today it means
noun An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “pants”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Italian Pantalone / pants