breeches

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breeches

/ˈbɹiː.t͡ʃɪz/ plural
/ˈbɹɪ.t͡ʃɪz/
/ˈbɹiː.t͡ʃɪz/

Rhymes with -ɪtʃɪz, -iːtʃɪz

Where it comes from

From Middle English breches, brechen pl, a variant of Middle English breche, brech, brek (“breeches”), from Old English brēċ (“underpants”), the plural of brōc (“legging, buttocks”), from Proto-West Germanic *brōk, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“crotch, legging, trousers”).

Akin to West Frisian broek (“leggings, over-trousers”), Dutch broek (“pair of trousers, underpants, long-johns”), obsolete German Bruch (“pair of hose, leggings, pants trousers”), Old Norse brók (“breeches”) (whence Danish brog); compare Latin brācae ( > French braies, Spanish bragas) which is immediately of Celtic origin, yet ultimately borrowed from the same Proto-Germanic source above. Compare brail.

noun breeks · britches

plural plural of breech

noun breech · breeks · britches

historical, plural, plural only A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes. And how then was the Devil drest? / Oh! he was in his Sunday's best: / His jacket was red and his breeches were blue, / And there was a hole where the tail came through.
informal, plural, plural only Trousers; pantaloons. But now there's only old Manning, and young William, and a new-fashioned woman gardener in breeches and such-like.
Similar: trousers, pants

Translations

Every language

noun a garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs

Español	calzones
日本語	半ズボン han-zubon, ブリーチズ burīchizu
中文	五分褲 /五分裤 wǔfēnkù, 半長褲 /半长裤 bànchángkù, 馬褲 /马裤 mǎkù
Português	calções
Français	culotte, haut-de-chausses
Deutsch	Breeches, Kniehose
Italiano	brache
Ελληνικά	βράκα vráka
Русский	бри́джи brídži, бриджи bridži

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MLA

"breeches." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/breeches. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

breeches. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/breeches

Chicago

"breeches." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/breeches.

BibTeX

@misc{breeches_2026,
  title = {breeches},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/breeches},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}