Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Men's wide breeches extending from waist to ankle, worn especially in England in the late 1600s.
  • noun Tight trousers extending from waist to ankle with straps passing under the instep, worn especially in the 1800s.
  • noun Trousers; pants.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In early Italian comedy, a character usually represented as a lean and foolish old man (properly a Venetian), wearing spectacles and slippers.
  • noun In mod. Pantomime, a character usually represented as a foolish and vicious old man, the butt of the clown, and his accomplice in all his wicked and funny pranks.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A ridiculous character, or an old dotard, in the Italian comedy; also, a buffoon in pantomimes.
  • noun A bifurcated garment for a man, covering the body from the waist downwards, and consisting of breeches and stockings in one.
  • noun In recent times, a loose-fitting variety of Trousers, often of less than ankle length.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An aging buffoon.
  • noun Trousers reminiscent of the tight-fitting leggings traditionally worn by a pantaloon.
  • noun A kind of fabric.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a character in the commedia dell'arte; portrayed as a foolish old man
  • noun a buffoon in modern pantomimes; the butt of jokes
  • noun trousers worn in former times

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French pantalon, a kind of trouser, from Pantalon, Pantaloon; see Pantaloon.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French pantalon, from Italian Pantaleone, a traditional character in 16th-century Italian comedy. See “Commedia dell'arte” in Wikipedia. The name is of Ancient Greek origin and loosely translates as "entirely lion." See παν and λέων.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pantaloon.

Examples

  • Pantaloons in our Pantomimes: though Colney says that the multiplication of the pantaloon is a distinct advance to representative truth -- and bother Colney!

    Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868

  • Pantaloons in our Pantomimes: though Colney says that the multiplication of the pantaloon is a distinct advance to representative truth -- and bother Colney!

    One of Our Conquerors — Volume 1 George Meredith 1868

  • Clowns and Pantaloons in our Pantomimes: though Colney says that the multiplication of the pantaloon is a distinct advance to representative truth -- and bother Colney!

    One of Our Conquerors — Complete George Meredith 1868

  • Pants come from the word "pantaloon" which was originally underwear.

    "All Dressed Up" 2005

  • Pants come from the word "pantaloon" which was originally underwear.

    Archive 2005-10-01 2005

  • His neighbor perhaps will be an old gentleman, the very type of the old "pantaloon" whose mask was in the old comedy supposed to be the impersonation of

    Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 85, January, 1875 Various

  • The principal one resembled the clown of modern pantomime; another was a kind of pantaloon or charlatan, and much of the rest consisted of practical jokes, like that of the Italian Polincinella.

    Handbook of Universal Literature From the Best and Latest Authorities Anne C. Lynch Botta 1853

  • I've owned and worn pantaloon and tunic sets in bright, cool cottons; let me be the first to recommend these, also I've worn the Malaysian tunic and long pleated skirt sets; also incredibly comfortable; remember, these styles have been developed and worn by people who live in tropical heat year in, year out.

    Norwegian Artist Hans Gude, 1825-1903 2009

  • The first non-Discworld Pratchett in decades has the familiar mix of serious plotting and underlying farce, as an iconoclastic Polynesian lad and a properly raised Victorian lass carry on through tsunami, plague, shipwreck, pigs, pantaloon birds, gods, grandparents and cannibals.

    Shakespeare and the Supremes 2009

  • The first non-Discworld Pratchett in decades has the familiar mix of serious plotting and underlying farce, as an iconoclastic Polynesian lad and a properly raised Victorian lass carry on through tsunami, plague, shipwreck, pigs, pantaloon birds, gods, grandparents and cannibals.

    Stromata Blog: 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • ...his hair was black and unconscious of a curl, his face lengthened, his complexion olive-coloured, his mouth retiring inwards, with the sharp-pointed, turn-up chin of a pantaloon.

    - Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 11 ch. 2

    October 10, 2008