ズボン

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 黒いズボンを履いています。▶ —
   I'm wearing black trousers.
2. このズボンはきついです。▶ —
   These trousers are tight.

Collocations

Mnemonic

ズボン — zubon, a loanword. Written in katakana ── but not from English. The etymology is intriguing ── it likely comes from French jupon (a petticoat) or jupe (skirt). Just as コーヒー is Dutch and パン is Portuguese ── Japan's clothing and daily-life loanwords came not from English alone but from several European languages. The Meiji opening borrowed from English, French, Dutch, and German without discrimination. So a single garment can carry several words of different origin. A trap: パンツ pantsu collides between British English ('underwear') and American English ('trousers') ── native Japanese use is 'underwear', with the trouser sense added recently. When in doubt, ズボン is the safest. Follow the origin of one line of katakana and you see the era and route by which the word reached Japan.

Quick check

1. Likely etymological source of ズボン?

   • French jupon / jupe
   • English "zoom"
   • Dutch zomer
   • German zone