breeches
English Edit
Alternative forms Edit
- britches (Appalachia, Southern US)
Etymology Edit
From Middle English breches, brechen pl, a variant of Middle English breche, brech, brek (“breeches”), from Old English brēċ (“underpants”), from Proto-West Germanic *brōk, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl (nom.acc.), from *brōks (“trousers”). Akin to Old Norse brók (“breeches”), Danish brog, Dutch broek, German Bruch f; compare Latin brācae ( > French braies) which is immediately of Celtic origin, and likely ultimately from the same Germanic origin above. Compare brail.
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
breeches
Noun Edit
breeches pl (plural only)
- A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.
- 1834 [1799], Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, “The Devil's Thoughts”, in The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, volume II, London: W. Pickering, page 83:
- And how then was the Devil drest? / Oh! he was in his Sunday's best: / His jacket was red and his breeches were blue, / And there was a hole where the tail came through.
- (informal) Trousers; pantaloons.
Derived terms Edit
Translations Edit
a garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs
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