Standard Lemma guide

underpants

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈʌndə(ɹ)ˌpænts/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH1 N D ER0 P AE2 N T S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Underwear covering the genitalia and often buttocks, usually going no higher than the navel.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: plural, plural-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: see at Thesaurus:underwear § Hyponyms

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: underwear, lingerie, shreddies, skivvies, smalls, smallclothes, underclothes, underclothing, undergarment, underthings, undies, unmentionables

2

noun

Meaning 2

an undergarment that covers the body from the waist no further than to the thighs; usually worn next to the skin

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: undergarment, unmentionable

Narrower terms: bikini pants, bloomers, pants, drawers, knickers, briefs, Jockey shorts, underdrawers, shorts, boxers, boxershorts, pantie, panty, scanty, step-in, thong

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1én Proto-Indo-European *h1entér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dhí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dhér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- Proto-Indo-European *peh2- Proto-Indo-European *-énts Proto-Indo-European *ph2énts? Proto-Hellenic *pánts Ancient Greek πᾶς (pâs) Ancient Greek ἔλεος (éleos) Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti Proto-Indo-European *-éh1ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh1yeti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Ancient Greek -έω (-éō) Ancient Greek ἐλεέω (eleéō) Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ Ancient Greek -μων (-mōn) Ancient Greek ἐλεήμων (eleḗmōn) Ancient Greek Παντελεήμων (Panteleḗmōn)der. Italian Pantalonebor. French pantalonbor. English pantaloon English pantaloons English pants English underpants From under- + pants.

Across languages

Translations

139 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: brekë — type of underwear
  • Arabic: سِرْوَال (sirwāl) — type of underwear
  • Armenian: վարտիք (vartikʻ) — type of underwear
  • Armenian: կիսավարտիք (kisavartikʻ) — type of underwear
  • Assamese: জাঙীয়া (zaṅia) — type of underwear
  • Azerbaijani: alt paltarı — type of underwear
  • Azerbaijani: tuman — type of underwear
  • Belarusian: трусы́ (trusý) — type of underwear
  • Belarusian: ма́йткі (májtki) — type of underwear
  • Bulgarian: га́щи (gášti) — type of underwear
  • Burmese: အတွင်းခံ (a.twang:hkam) — type of underwear
  • Catalan: calçotets — type of underwear
  • Catalan: (Balears) calçons blancs — type of underwear
  • Catalan: bragues — type of underwear
  • Chichewa: ntchekwera — type of underwear
  • Chinese Cantonese: 底褲 /底裤 (dai2 fu3) — type of underwear
  • Chinese: 內褲 /内裤 (zh-min-nan) — type of underwear
  • Chinese Mandarin: 內褲 /内裤 (nèikù) — type of underwear
  • Crimean Tatar: ştan — type of underwear
  • Czech: spodky — type of underwear
  • Czech: kalhotky — type of underwear
  • Czech: slipy — type of underwear
  • Danish: underbukser — type of underwear
  • Esperanto: kalsono — type of underwear
  • Estonian: aluspüksid — type of underwear
  • Finnish: alushousut — type of underwear
  • Finnish: pikkuhousut — type of underwear
  • Finnish: kalsarit — type of underwear
  • Finnish: alkkarit — type of underwear
  • French: caleçon — type of underwear
  • French: calcif — type of underwear
  • French: bobettes — type of underwear
  • Galician: cirolas — type of underwear
  • Galician: cirigolas — type of underwear
  • Galician: calzón — type of underwear
  • Galician: braga — type of underwear
  • Georgian: საცვალი (sacvali) — type of underwear
  • Georgian: ტრუსიკი (ṭrusiḳi) — type of underwear
  • German: Unterhose — type of underwear
  • German: Schlüpfer — type of underwear
  • German: Höschen — type of underwear
  • Greek: σώβρακο (sóvrako) — type of underwear
  • Greek: κιλότα (kilóta) — type of underwear
  • Gujarati: ચડ્ડી (caḍḍī) — type of underwear
  • Hebrew: תַּחְתּוֹנִים (takhtoním) — type of underwear
  • Hindi: चड्डी (caḍḍī) — type of underwear
  • Hindi: कच्छा (kacchā) — type of underwear
  • Hindi: कच्छ (kacch) — type of underwear
  • Hindi: जाँघिया (jāṅghiyā) — type of underwear
  • Hindi: जांघिया (jāṅghiyā) — type of underwear
  • Hungarian: alsónadrág — type of underwear
  • Hunsrik: Unnerhoss — type of underwear
  • Icelandic: nærbuxur — type of underwear
  • Ido: kalsono — type of underwear
  • Indonesian: celana dalam — type of underwear
  • Indonesian: cawat — type of underwear
  • Ingrian: aluskaatiat — type of underwear
  • Irish: fobhríste — type of underwear
  • Italian: mutande — type of underwear
  • Japanese: パンツ (pantsu) — type of underwear
  • Japanese: ズボン下 (zubonshita) — type of underwear
  • Kazakh: шолақ дамбал (şolaq dambal) — type of underwear
  • Khmer: ខោទ្រនាប់ (khao trɔɔnŏəp) — type of underwear
  • Korean: 팬티 (paenti) — type of underwear
  • Korean: 속바지 (sokbaji) — type of underwear
  • Central Kurdish: دەرپێ (derpê) — type of underwear
  • Northern Kurdish: tebanîk — type of underwear
  • Northern Kurdish: derpî — type of underwear
  • Northern Kurdish: derpê — type of underwear
  • Kyrgyz: трусик (trusik) — type of underwear
  • Lao: ເສື້ອຊ້ອນໃນ (sư̄a sǭn nai) — type of underwear
  • Latvian: apakšbikses — type of underwear
  • Lithuanian: apatiniai — type of underwear
  • Macedonian: гаќи (gaḱi) — type of underwear
  • Malay: seluar dalam — type of underwear
  • Manx: fo-hroosyn — type of underwear
  • Manx: fo-vreeçhyn — type of underwear
  • Māori: toroiho — type of underwear
  • Māori: tarau roto — type of underwear
  • Mongolian: дотуур өмд (dotuur ömd) — type of underwear
  • Norman: drâses — type of underwear
  • Norwegian Bokmål: underbukse — type of underwear
  • Norwegian Bokmål: underbukser — type of underwear
  • Old English: brēċ — type of underwear
  • Pashto: سلتراج (soltrāj) — type of underwear
  • Persian: زیرشلواری (zir-šalvâri) — type of underwear
  • Persian: زیرتنبانی (zir-tonbâni) — type of underwear
  • Persian: سلتراج (selterâj) — type of underwear
  • Polish: majtki — type of underwear
  • Polish: slipy — type of underwear
  • Polish: gacie — type of underwear
  • Polish: gatki — type of underwear
  • Portuguese: cuecas — type of underwear
  • Punjabi: ਕੱਛਾ (kacchā) — type of underwear
  • Romanian: chiloți — type of underwear
  • Russian: трусы́ (trusý) — type of underwear
  • Russian: тру́сики (trúsiki) — type of underwear
  • Russian: кальсо́ны (kalʹsóny) — type of underwear
  • Serbo-Croatian: га̏ће — type of underwear
  • Serbo-Croatian: gȁće — type of underwear
  • Slovak: spodky — type of underwear
  • Slovak: nohavičky — type of underwear
  • Slovene: spodnje hláče — type of underwear
  • Spanish: calzoncillos — type of underwear
  • Spanish: anatómicos — type of underwear
  • Spanish: fundillos — type of underwear
  • Spanish: gayumbos — type of underwear
  • Spanish: interiores — type of underwear
  • Spanish: pantaloncillos — type of underwear
  • Spanish: trusa — type of underwear
  • Spanish: calzoncillo — type of underwear
  • Spanish: chon — type of underwear
  • Spanish: slip — type of underwear
  • Spanish: gayumbo — type of underwear
  • Swedish: underbyxa — type of underwear
  • Swedish: kalsonger — type of underwear
  • Swedish: trosor — type of underwear
  • Tagalog: karsonsilyo — type of underwear
  • Tajik: труси (trus-i) — type of underwear
  • Tamil: ஜட்டி (jaṭṭi) — type of underwear
  • Thai: กางเกงใน (gaang-geeng-nai) — type of underwear
  • Turkish: iç çamaşırı — type of underwear
  • Turkish: don — type of underwear
  • Ukrainian: труси́ (trusý) — type of underwear
  • Unami: lamunkpëlëchis — type of underwear
  • Urdu: جان٘گھیا (jānghiyā) — type of underwear
  • Uyghur: كالتە ئىشتان (kalte ishtan) — type of underwear
  • Uzbek: trusik — type of underwear
  • Uzbek: kalta ishton — type of underwear
  • Vietnamese: quần đùi — type of underwear
  • Vietnamese: quần xà lỏn — type of underwear
  • Vietnamese: quần lót — type of underwear
  • Volapük: niblit — type of underwear
  • Volapük: sleafablit — type of underwear
  • Welsh: trons — type of underwear
  • Yakut: туруусук (turuusuk) — type of underwear
  • Yiddish: גאַטקעס (gatkes) — type of underwear
  • Zhuang: vaqdinj — type of underwear
  • Zhuang: vaqdonh — type of underwear
Real reading context

underpants in complete knowledge articles