Pajama
/pəˈdʒɑː.mə/noun
Loose clothing worn for sleeping or relaxing.
Did you know?The word entered English through Urdu and Persian, where it originally referred to loose trousers, not sleepwear, and only later became the familiar bedtime outfit.
Etymological Timeline
Persian
Persian
pāy-jāma
“leg clothing; trousers”
Urdu
Urdu
pāy-jāma
“loose trousers or leg garment”
19th Century
English
pajama
“loose trousers worn in South Asia”
Modern English
English
pajamas
“sleepwear, usually a matching top and trousers”