ズボン

Meaning in English

pants, trousers

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Word context

What it means

ズボン is the Japanese term for a lower-body garment that covers the legs from the waist to the ankles, worn on the outside as everyday attire.

Main meanings

1. Primary referent: outer-leg garment such as trousers, jeans, or slacks.
2. Distinction: in casual speech パンツ can mean underwear, so ズボン is the preferred term for outerwear.
3. Scope: applicable to many styles of lower-body wear; ボトムス is a broader category sometimes used for fashion contexts.

How to use it

Used in everyday conversation and fashion contexts to refer to trousers; in formal settings you may encounter ズボン or ボトムス; to discuss underwear, パンツ is more common. Typical phrases include ズボンをはく, ズボンを買う, ズボンのサイズを確認する.

Variants and close terms

パンツ (pantsu) — pants or underwear depending on context
ボトムス (boomutsu) — bottoms, a broader category including various lower-body garments

Etymology

Borrowing from a European term for legwear, adapted to Japanese phonology as zubon, illustrating how foreign clothing terms enter contemporary Japanese vocabulary.

Word class

Noun (clothing)