bloomers

Where does the word "bloomers" come from? It comes from English Bloomer, and was adopted directly into English (1851).

Bloomers’s story begins in English: Bloomer meant “a family name.” An occupational surname for a worker at a bloomery, the hearth where iron was smelted into lumps called blooms. It reached English by 1851 as bloomers. Amelia Bloomer promoted loose Turkish-style trousers under a short skirt, designed by Elizabeth Smith Miller, in her paper The Lily in 1851. Today, bloomers means loose knee-length knickers; formerly women's loose trousers.

1. Stage 1 · English · medieval Bloomer "a family name", an occupational surname for a worker at a bloomery, the hearth where iron was smelted into lumps called blooms.
2. Stage 2 · American English · 1851 bloomers "women's loose trousers", Amelia Bloomer promoted loose Turkish-style trousers under a short skirt, designed by Elizabeth Smith Miller, in her paper The Lily in 1851.