pantaloon
Americannoun
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pantaloons, a man's close-fitting garment for the hips and legs, worn especially in the 19th century, but varying in form from period to period; trousers.
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(usually initial capital letter) Also Pantalone (in commedia dell'arte) a foolish old Venetian merchant, usually the head of a household, generally lascivious and frequently deceived in the course of lovers' intrigues.
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(in the modern pantomime) a foolish, vicious old man, the butt and accomplice of the clown.
noun
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(in pantomime) an absurd old man, the butt of the clown's tricks
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(usually capital) (in commedia dell'arte) a lecherous old merchant dressed in pantaloons
Etymology
Origin of pantaloon
1580–90; < Middle French Pantalon < Upper Italian ( Venetian ) Pantalone nickname for a Venetian, variant of Pantaleone, name of a 4th-century saint once a favorite of the Venetians
Explanation
Use the word pantaloon if you're looking for a more colorful term for your pants or trousers. This is an excellent word choice if you're looking for a more elegant designation than "baggy pants." We get the word from French, which got it from a foolish comic character in Italian commedia dell'arte, Pantalone. It sounds old-fashioned now, but long ago most men wore pantaloons, loose trousers that gathered near the knee. As time went on, the word pantaloon was shortened in the United States to pants.
Vocabulary lists containing pantaloon
Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 5
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Bull Run
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Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The precisely tuned ensemble — fast talkers, nimble movers — is rounded out by Marcus Kyd as the rules-mongering official Trivelin and Mark Jaster as the doddering, rich Pantaloon character who wants a young wife.
From Washington Post • Mar. 6, 2017
Pantaloon, which gained 6.3 percent to 198.1 rupees in Mumbai trading yesterday, has since pared its gains since Nov. 23 to 11 percent.
From BusinessWeek • Dec. 8, 2011
The ballet's major character innovations were a bop-goggled Pantaloon and a Beat Generation Harlequin, wearing dark glasses and T-shirt instead of the traditional mask and clown's costume.
From Time Magazine Archive
The old commedia dell'arte, the drama hat set the patterns for Harlequin, Columbine, Pierrot and Pantaloon, is a favorite subject for romantic poets, water color painters, and lecturers on The Drama.
From Time Magazine Archive
Your old friends the Harlequin, the Clown, the Pantaloon bounce upon the stage with all their old antics and most of their old jokes.
From Holidays & Happy-Days by Hendry, Hamish
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.
