For as common as they are, pants share an unusual linguistic phenomenon with glasses, scissors, and other singular objects we refer to in the plural. Some say the phrase “pair of pants” is derived from how early styles were manufactured, while others point to a grammatical phenomenon known as plurale tantum.
Tracing the former, in ancient times, some leg coverings were composed of two individual segments joined together. This was true in the case of Ötzi the Iceman — a mummy from circa 3300 BCE who was discovered wearing two individual leather leggings knotted into one. While not every pair of leg coverings was made this way, this style continued well into the 19th century, as evidenced by the two-piece pantalets that some girls wore as undergarments.
Some point to this as the origin of the phrase “pair of pants,” referring to the multiple pant legs that once made up a single unit. “Shirt,” on the other hand, is singular because those garments were usually made from a single piece of fabric. These are just theories — albeit plausible ones — and it’s difficult to definitively track the exact origins.
What we can say for certain is that the word “pants” is what’s known in Latin as plurale tantum, meaning “plural only.” This grammatical term references any noun used only in its plural form (e.g., pants, scissors, glasses). Nouns that fall into this category appear to be made of multiple components — take, for instance, the two legs of your standard pair of pants, or the two sharp prongs that make up a pair of scissors. But despite this visual perception, nouns that can be called plurale tantum are really one piece in practice.
At the end of the day, while we all put our pants on one leg at a time, there remain some unanswerable questions about the origins of a “pair of pants.” It may have to do with how they were once manufactured, or it may be nothing more than a grammatical quirk.
More from our network
Word Smarts is part of Optimism, which publishes content that uplifts, informs, and inspires.
