pantalets

or pan·ta·lettes

[pan-tl-ets]

noun (used with a plural verb)

Sometimes pantalet. long drawers extending below the skirt, with a frill or other finish at the bottom of the leg, commonly worn by women and girls in the 19th century.
a pair of separate frilled or trimmed pieces for attaching to the legs of women's drawers.

Origin of pantalets

First recorded in 1825–35; pantal(oon) + -et + -s³

Also called trousers.

Related formspan·ta·let·ted, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pantalets

Historical Examples of pantalets

The frocks were made shorter, and the pantalets kept them company.
A Little Girl of Long Ago
Amanda Millie Douglas
I have three white hens—one top-knot, one plain, and one with pantalets.
Harper's Young People, March 30, 1880
Various
He orter stay at home an' wear Congress gaiters an' pantalets.
Si Klegg, Book 2 (of 6)
John McElroy
Then Victorian hoops which were succeeded by the Victorian bustles, pantalets, black velvet at throat and wrists, and lockets.
Woman as Decoration
Emily Burbank
It was a pretty picture, and would have been prettier, if they had shown bare little legs, instead of pantalets.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 99, January, 1866
Various

British Dictionary definitions for pantalets

pantalets

pantalettes

pl n

long drawers, usually trimmed with ruffles, extending below the skirts: worn during the early and mid 19th century
a pair of ruffles for the ends of such drawers

Word Origin for pantalets

C19: diminutive of pantaloons

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012