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Chaps

2 stages from Mexican Spanish to English.

Today it means leather leggings worn by cowboys

Where does the word "chaps" come from? It comes from Mexican Spanish chaparreras, adopted directly into English (1880s).

1
Stage 1 of 2
chaparreras
Mexican Spanish · 1800s
"riding leggings"
leggings for riding through the thorny 'chaparral'
2
Stage 2 of 2
chaps
American English · 1880s
"leather leggings"
shortened by cowboys
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Read the full story

Chaps’s story begins in Mexican Spanish: chaparreras meant “riding leggings.” Leggings for riding through the thorny 'chaparral'. It reached English by 1880s as chaps. Shortened by cowboys. Today, chaps means leather leggings worn by cowboys.