First recorded in 1865–70; named after J. T. Brudnell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797–1868), British cavalryman of Crimean War fame
A cardigan is a sweater that opens in front. Your favorite cardigan might have pearl buttons and pockets. Unlike a sweater that you pull on over your head, a cardigan is shrugged on over the shoulders and buttons, zips, or snaps up the front — or is worn open, with no fasteners at all. During the Crimean War in the 1800s, English general James Thomas Brudenell's troops wore jackets that opened in front, and since he was the 7th Earl of Cardigan, these garments — and future open-front sweaters — were known as cardigans.
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The second part honors David Rhys Jones, a schoolteacher at Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi in Cardigan, Wales, who taught the study's lead author.
From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2026
At the highest end are boarding schools such as Cardigan Mountain, where repeating a grade for academic, emotional or other reasons has been common for decades.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026
Rhys returned to Wales for his national tour playing Richard Burton in a one-man show that began on 17 November in Mwldan, Cardigan, and concludes in Pontrhydyfen.
From BBC • Nov. 19, 2025
It was popularised by young US influencers like Pink Cardigan this summer, who amassed millions of likes by staring, tongue out, at bemused customers through shop and diner windows.
From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025
I read the classics for my pleasure—but I am forgetting, Mr. Cardigan, I am forgetting so many, many things.
From Cardigan by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
