Activewear

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Clothing designed for physical activities combines comfort and functionality for exercise or sportswear requirements
2. Garments tailored for athletic use, offering style and performance during workouts or recreational activities
3. Specialized apparel suitable for fitness pursuits, emphasizing practicality and trendy aesthetics for active users

Etymology: "Activewear" is a plain compound: "active" joined to "wear," with no hidden story behind the pairing. The first half descends from Latin "āctīvus," meaning "pertaining to action," which reached English through Old French "actif" and Middle English "actyf" before settling into its modern sense of being engaged in physical movement. Its Greek ancestor, "energētikós," meant "effective" or "operative," a reminder that the word's core idea has always been doing rather than merely existing. The second half is older and more ordinary. "Wear" traces back through Middle English "weren" and Old English "werian" to a Germanic root meaning to put on or carry clothing, so the word combines two strands of ordinary vocabulary, one Latinate and one Germanic, into a single modern noun for clothing designed for exercise.

Synonyms: athletic wear, sportswear, exercise clothing, gym clothes, fitness apparel

Antonyms: casual wear, formal wear, everyday clothing, streetwear, business attire