Gaskin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The fleshy upper part of a horse's hind leg, lying between the stifle and the hock ; an old-fashioned term for loose, wide breeches or hose worn by men
2. The muscular section of a horse's back leg between the knee joint and the hock ; a historical name for baggy trousers or loose hose
3. The thick, meaty region of a horse's rear limb running from the stifle down to the hock ; a dated word for full, loose-fitting breeches

Etymology: "Gaskin" names the thigh, specifically the part of a horse's hind leg between the stifle and the hock, and in older English usage it could also refer to a pair of loose breeches. Its exact origin is uncertain, but one proposal links it to Gascoigne, the French region of Gascony, and to the Gascons, the people of that region. The idea is that the name may have passed from the region or its people to a style of wide breeches or to the leg they covered. That connection is a guess rather than a documented fact, and no firm dates or earliest uses are established for the sense.