pantaloon noun. [pantǝ'lu:n] L16.
[French pantalon from Italian pantalone: see -OON.]
I. Also Pantaloon.
1. The Venetian character in Italian commedia dell'arte, represented as a lean and foolish old man, wearing spectacles, pantaloons (see sense 4), and slippers; in modern harlequinade or pantomime, a character represented as a foolish and vicious old man who is the clown's stooge. L16.

2. A feeble tottering old man; a dotard. derog. obsolete exc. with allus. to Shakes. L16.
■ Shakespeare As You Like It The lean and slipper'd pantaloon..His youthful hose..too wide for his shrunk shank.

3. A Scottish courtier in the period after the Restoration. M-L17.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲

pantaloon
II. Usu. (now always) in pl.

4. [from the dress of the stage Pantaloon of the period.] Any of various close-fitting garments for the legs, usu. resembling breeches or hose, worn in the 17th and 18th cents. M17-M18.

5. Tight-fitting trousers fastened with ribbons or buttons below the calf or by straps passing under the instep, which were introduced late in the 18th cent. and began to supersede knee-breeches (Hist.); trousers of any kind (colloq.); spec. women's loose baggy trousers. L18.

■ pantalooned adjective wearing pantaloons L18.

■ pantaloonery noun the performance of a pantaloon in pantomimes E19.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲