English

smallclothes

From small + clothes.

A compound of small + clothes

Proto-Germanic *smalaz

Proto-West Germanic *smal

Old English smæl ‘narrow’

Middle English smal ‘small’

English small

Proto-Germanic *klaiþą ‘patch; cloth’

Proto-West Germanic *klaiþ ‘cloth’

Old English clāþ ‘cloth; (plural) clothes’

Middle English clothes

Today it means

noun Knee-length breeches, worn especially in the 18th century.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / smallclothes