Jean

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /d͡ʒiːn/

Definitions

1. A durable cotton fabric, typically blue, used especially for making casual trousers and jackets
2. A strong fabric usually woven in a twill pattern, commonly dyed blue, and primarily employed in the production of casual trousers and jackets
3. A type of sturdy cotton fabric that is often dyed blue and is primarily associated with making casual clothing such as pants and jackets

Etymology: The fabric's name is a city. Genoa, the Italian port, was known in Middle English as "Gene," a name borrowed from Old French "Jannes," and textile trade gave the place's name to cloth. Genoa and Geneva are doublets, two forms of the same name that entered English by different routes. The blue came first. Genoa was famous for a blue dye, "bleu de Gênes" (Genovese blue), and that colour gave the cloth its identity. Weavers in Nîmes, in southern France, produced a sturdy twilled cloth, which became known as "serge de Nîmes," and its name was shortened to "denim." Cloth from Genoa, by contrast, was sometimes dyed in that same Genoese blue, so the two places and the colour became linked in the trade. The word "jean," used for the cloth, follows the Genoa line directly. Its distant relation to "knee" is only a coincidence of ancient roots and has no bearing on the fabric's story.

Synonyms: denim, pants, trousers, slacks, bottoms

Antonyms: top, shirt, blouse, coat, outerwear