breeches
English edit
Alternative forms edit
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, Spanish bragas) 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, attributive breech)
- 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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