TROUSERS

This article appears in Volume V27, Page 312 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: TOO-TUM

TROUSERS , the name given to the article of dress worn by men, covering each leg separately and reaching from the waist to the foot. The word in its earlier forms is always found without the second r, e.g. trouses, trouzes, trooze, cf. the Lowland Scots word " trews," and is an adaptation of the French trousses, trunk-

hose

HOSE (a word common to many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch, hoes, stocking, Ger. Hose, breeches, tights; the ultimate origin is unknown)

, breeches, the plural of trousse, a bundle,

pack

, truss, from trousser, to

pack

, bundle up, tuck, tie up, girth, of which the origin is doubtful. In

English

ENGLISH

the word " trousers," when it first appears, was used of the leg-garments of the Irish, who wore their breeches or trunk-

hose

HOSE (a word common to many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch, hoes, stocking, Ger. Hose, breeches, tights; the ultimate origin is unknown)

and stockings in one piece, a custom to which there are many allusions in 17th-century literature. Knee-breeches and top-boots for out-of-

door

DOOR (corresponding to the Gr. Bbpa,. Lat. fores or valvae; the
English
- ENGLISH
word, with other forms common in allied languages, comes from the same Indo-European
stem
- STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")
as the Gr. Obpa and Lat. fares)

wear

WEAR

or stockings for indoor use lasted till the beginning of the 19th century as the

regular

REGULAR

costume for men. Pantaloons, loose trousers reaching to above the ankle, were worn in Venice by the poorer classes in the 17th century (for the origin of the name see PANTALOON). The characters of the Italian comedy made the style of garment

familiar

FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

in France, but it was only seen in the fantastic costumes of the ballet. During the reign of Louis XVI. loose pantaloons became fashion-able for the morning deshabille of men. Their adoption by the supporters of the Revolution was the origin of the name of sans-culottes applied to the revolutionaries. Beau Brummel, in England, was probably the first to make the " pantaloon " popular. A striking feature of his dress were the tight-fitting black trousers reaching to the ankle, where they were buttoned. From this developed the true trousers, cut over the boot at the instep, at first open at the bottom and fastened by loops, later strapped tight under the boot. It is said that the duke of

Wellington

introduced this latter form after the Peninsular War. They were not recognized as correct for evening

wear

WEAR

,
and strong opposition was taken against them by the clergy and at the universities (see COSTUME).

End of Article: TROUSERS

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/TOO_TUM/TROUSERS.html">
TROUSERS
</a>

(Previous)
TROUGHTON, EDWARD (1753-1835)

(Next)
TROUT (Salmo trutta)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email