The etymology of the word "jeans". The linguist's opinion about fashion

Today it is almost impossible to find a person who does not have in his wardrobe jeans or clothes from such a fabric. It so happened that very few people know, thanks to which jeans acquired their name. But in order for you to eliminate this gap, we wrote this article. You will read many interesting facts, and also you will know the etymology of the word "jeans".

Italian weavers

In the XVI century, weaving was perfectly developed in one of the Italian provinces - Genoa. The materials produced were diverse. Among the fine and exquisite fabrics was also rough with diagonal weave twill. Naturally, aristocrats did not buy it for making their elegant and expensive dresses, so this fabric did not even have a name. Who would have thought that the etymology of the word "jeans" deeply rooted in the history of Italy and even other countries!

Popular imported material

After some time, the demand for this material began to grow among the French. Procurement of goods took place in the city of Genoa, called it also - Gene.

So, the etymology of the word "jeans" leads us to Paris. The French liked the material, they called it janne. From France, this verbal unit "migrated" into English, where it changed slightly - in jean. The word retained its appearance and writing until today. This is the history of the word "jeans". Etymology (the science of the origin of words) confirms this to us.

There is a false version of jeans, which says that jeans are due to cowboys, American settlers, and riders. This opinion is a deep delusion, since this word comes from Italy, which after many centuries fell into America.

And what does the cowboys have to do with it?

The etymology of the word "jeans" prepares for you one more story. In the XIX century, cowboys came to America for work. For them it was necessary to sew massively the form. As the main material, they chose jeans. Leib Strauss, known to mods as Levi Strauss, acquired a patent for making this type of clothing. It was he who developed and sewed a classic version of jeans. This was the prelude to the sensation in the fashion world. The model developed by Strauss had only 4 pockets: front - 2, rear - 1, small front for hours - 1. These American pants were painted in a saturated blue (indigo). In these years, their cost was one and a half dollars per unit of goods.

Fashionable synonym

Lovers of shopping always in boutiques and salons pay attention to advertising booklets. And probably many of them met the word "denim". Popular sources, be it the explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov and Shvedova or the academic dictionary of Evgenyeva, treat "denim" as a synonym for jeans. Its origin is no less fascinating.

The nondescript Italian fabric of light brown color did not suit the Parisian fashion designers, they decided to make it more attractive. Couturiers agreed that the fabric would have to be painted blue. This procedure was carried out in the town of Nîmes. Of course, you already managed to notice the similarity of the word "denim" with the name of the city. Literally de Nim means "from Nyima". Now the term denim means a certain color and tone, as well as clothes in the wardrobe of a man and a woman.

The etymology of the word "jeans"

Briefly summarize. The lexical unit that interests us calls the kind of fabric (jene) that was produced in the homonymous city of Genoa. The word migrated to France, then to the UK, where it acquired the final version of spelling and pronunciation - jeans.

Thanks to our article you learned the origin of the word "jeans", about the amazing "journey" of the verbal unit, about the origin of its synonym, and about the creator of the fashionable clothes described - Levi Strauss.