Sloppe

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. An archaic term for loose, wide-legged breeches or trousers worn in earlier centuries
2. A baggy, full-cut pair of breeches of the kind worn by men in the past
3. Wide, loose-fitting trousers from an earlier era, often gathered or hanging full at the legs

Etymology: In Middle English, a "sloppe" was a loose, baggy outer garment or smock, and the plural "sloppes" named loose breeches or trousers. The garment sense, which implied something cut too big and hanging loosely, is the root of the modern idea of carelessness and disorder. The word likely came into English from a Dutch or Low German source, where a similar term meant a loose coat or trousers. The later sense of wet, messy waste, such as spilt liquid or dishwater, grew from the same image of something loose and soft that spills and sprawls.

Synonyms: smock, loose garment