My Gaelic dictionary has:
triubhas, n. f. breeches and stockings in one piece; pantaloons. M. Ir. tribus. O. Ir. trebus.
My Irish dictionary has
trius, m. trousers.
(Note how the original medial b has been softened to w in the Gaelic and disappeared altogether in the modern Irish cf pater>father>athair.)
Evidently English borrowed the Celtic word:
trousers (n.) earlier trouzes (1580s), extended from trouse (1570s), with plural ending typical of things in pairs, from Gaelic or Middle Irish triubhas "close-fitting shorts," of uncertain origin. Early recorded use of the word indicates the garment was regarded as Celtic: "A jellous wife was like an Irish trouze, alwayes close to a mans tayle" [1630]. The unexplained intrusive second -r- is perhaps by influence of drawers or other words in pairs ending in -ers.
Strange how English changed the original final s sound to z.
Last edited by OC Richard; 10th July 16 at 05:28 AM.
Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte
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