pantaloon

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a close-fitting trouser or an old-fashioned garment covering the leg, usually used in the plural pantaloons

   The actor tore one pantaloon while climbing through the stage window.

2. 2
   noun

   an old, foolish, or comic man, from the stock character Pantalone

   The comedy cast him as a pompous old pantaloon deceived by the younger lovers.

Through French pantalon from Italian Pantalone, the elderly Venetian stock character of commedia dell'arte, traditionally dressed in long close-fitting trousers. The character's costume gave English the garment sense and, by association, the noun for an aging comic fool.

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