*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of panty

Recorded since 1845 in the plural, meaning “drawers for men”, a derogatory diminutive of pants (the shortening of pantaloons); meaning “underpants for women or children” first recorded 1908.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

Short trousers for men, or more usually boys. · An article of clothing worn as underpants by women. · A helmet cover.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Recorded since 1845 in the plural, meaning “drawers for men”, a derogatory diminutive of pants (the shortening of pantaloons); meaning “underpants for women or children” first recorded 1908.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "pants",
      "pants#English"
    ],
    [
      "pantaloons",
      "pantaloons#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Cebuano",
      "lang_code": "ceb",
      "word": "panti",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Short trousers for men, or more usually boys.",
        "An article of clothing worn as underpants by women.",
        "A helmet cover."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "in-plural",
        "obsolete",
        "in-compounds",
        "plural-normally",
        "informal"
      ],
      "recordId": "59c03d69805d1fbfa601abaa1bb62bf26d5b5248639d79e2ace2b7386f285c67",
      "rawRecordSha256": "f199a4fc77fa0e95a35278e67c64263f8fa495b9611dbcc4a968aa185c549449",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 387272
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for panty →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cGFudHk