What is "culottes"

culottes \culottes\ n. pl. a type of women's trousers with wide legs cut loose and full so as to resemble a skirt.

Syn: culotte. [WordNet 1.5] ||

"a divided skirt," 1911, from French culotte "breeches" (16c.), a diminutive of cul "bottom, backside, backside, anus," from Latin culus "bottom, fundament." Earlier, in the singular cullote, it was used to mean "knee-breeches" (1842). Por le cul dieu "By God's arse" was an Old French oath.

n. A type of loose shorts which look like a skirt; a divided skirt.

n. a divided skirt [syn: culotte]

Culottes are items of clothing worn on the lower half. The case of culottes meaning split skirts, historical men's breeches, or women's under-pants is an example of fashion-industry words taken from designs across history, languages and cultures, then using them to describe different garments, often creating confusion among historians, and readers. The French word culotte is (a pair of) panties, pants, knickers, trousers, shorts, or (historically) breeches; derived from the French word culot, meaning the lower-half of a thing, the lower garment in this case.

In English-speaking history culottes were originally the knee-breeches commonly worn by gentlemen of the European upper-classes from the late Middle Ages or Renaissance through the early nineteenth century. The style of tight trousers ending just below the knee was popularized in France during the reign of Henry III (1574–1589). Culottes were normally closed and fastened about the leg, to the knee, by buttons, a strap and buckle, or a draw-string. During the French Revolution of 1789–1799, working-class revolutionaries were known as the " sans-culottes" – literally, "without culottes" – a name derived from their rejection of aristocratic apparel. In the United States, only the first five Presidents, from George Washington through James Monroe, wore culottes according to the style of the late 18th century.