breeches
Contents
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- britches (Appalachia, Southern US)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English breches (plural) (also brechen), a variant of Middle English breche, brech, brek (“breeches”), from Old English brēċ (“breeches”), from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz (nominative/accusative plural), from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“trousers”); akin to Old Norse brók (“breeches”), Danish brog, Dutch broek, German Bruch f; compare Latin bracae ( > French braies) which is of Celtic origin. Compare brail.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
breeches
- plural of breech
- A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.
- 1829, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, "The Devil's Thoughts,"
- 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.
- 1829, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, "The Devil's Thoughts,"
- (informal) Trousers; pantaloons; britches.
Related termsEdit
- breeches buoy
- breeches pipe: a forked pipe forming two branches united at one end
- knee-breeches
- open-kneed breeches
- wear the breeches: see wear the pants, wear the trousers
- too big for one's britches
TranslationsEdit
a garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs