Breeches (/bɹiːtʃəz/ or /ˈbrɪtʃᵻz/ BRICH-əz) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. The breeches were normally closed and fastened about the leg, along its open seams at varied lengths, and to the knee, by either buttons or by a draw-string, or by one or more straps and buckle or brooches. Formerly a standard item of Western men's clothing, they had fallen out of use by the mid 20th century in favor of trousers. Modern athletic garments used for English riding and fencing, although called breeches or britches, differ from breeches in ways discussed in this article.

Etymology

Breeches is a double plural known since c. 1205, from Old English brēc, the plural of brōc "garment for the legs and trunk", from the Proto-Germanic word *brōk-, plural *brōkiz, whence also the Old Norse word brók, which shows up in the epithet of the Viking king Ragnar Loðbrók, Ragnar "Hairy-breeches". The Proto-Germanic word also gave rise, via a Celtic language, to the Latin word brāca or bracca; the Romans, who did not generally wear pants, referred to Germanic tribes as brācātī or braccātī, "wearers of breeches" (or rather, of fabric wrapped around the legs.)