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Bloomers

2 stages from English to English.

Today it means loose knee-length knickers; formerly women's loose trousers

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

1
Stage 1 of 2
Bloomer
English · medieval
"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 of 2
bloomers
American English · 1851
"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
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Read the full story

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.