Microkinis

Part of speech: noun, plural

Definitions

1. Extremely small swimwear garments designed to cover only minimal parts of the body; often used as daring or provocative beachwear; typically composed of tiny pieces of fabric or string
2. Minimalistic bathing suits featuring tiny fabric coverage for the wearer’s modesty; mainly worn for tanning or bold fashion statements; characterized by reducing traditional swimsuit dimensions
3. Swimwear styles with an emphasis on minimal coverage, designed to expose most of the skin; predominantly employed for aesthetic appeal or tanning purposes; consisting of the smallest possible fabric pieces to maintain coverage

Etymology: "Microkinis" is the plural of "microkini," a word formed by attaching the prefix "micro-" to "bikini." The prefix comes from Greek "mikros," meaning "small," and it has been used since the twentieth century to form words for things of very small size, such as the "microchip" or "microphone." The base word carries the story. "Bikini" was named after Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where the United States conducted nuclear weapons tests in 1946, and the two-piece swimsuit was introduced in Paris that same year. Its name was chosen to suggest explosive impact, and the garment was marketed as shocking. Each new step toward minimal coverage has been described as a sequel to that original shock, and "microkini" follows the pattern: a bikini reduced further still. Because "micro-" can be attached to almost any noun, the word is a plain compound rather than a historical coinage with a single inventor. Its meaning rests on the shared sense of "tiny" in both halves, with "bikini" supplying the swimwear sense and "micro-" pushing the size to an extreme.

Synonyms: mini bikinis, tiny bikinis