Stetsons

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Wide-brimmed felt hats with a high crown, traditionally worn by cowboys and ranchers to shade the face from sun and rain
2. Tall-crowned hats with broad brims, often made of felt or fur, associated with the American West and frontier life
3. Broad-brimmed headwear of felt, originally popularized by a hat manufacturer and worn for protection against weather

Etymology: "Stetsons" is the plural of "stetson," which names the wide-brimmed felt hat. The word is a genuine eponym: it comes from the surname of John Batterson Stetson, the American hatmaker who designed the hat and began manufacturing it in Philadelphia in 1865. His design, with its high crown and broad brim, was built to shed rain and shade the eyes on the open range, and it became the hat most associated with cowboys in the American West. Because the name became a generic term for that style of hat, "stetsons" is used for multiple hats of this kind, not only those made by the company. The brand name's journey from a proper noun to a common one is the whole story here, and the surname still sits inside every use of it.

Synonyms: cowboy hat, ten-gallon hat