Why Do We Say “A Pair of Pants”?

Ask anyone who is learning English as a second language what they think the most-maddening oddity of the language is and you are bound to get several different answers (there are, after all, dozens of exceptions to the “rules” of English). But here’s one that repeatedly comes up, even among native speakers of English: Why on Earth do you say “a pair of pants” when the “pants” in question are only one item? (Note: We are using “pants” in the American sense here—as in trousers, not undergarments.) Well, there are a couple of explanations floating around.

According to some, the phrase “pair of pants” harkens back to the days when what constituted pants—or pantaloons, as they were originally known—consisted of two separate items, one for each leg. They were put on one at a time and then secured around the waist. Calling them a pair of pantaloons, or pants, as they were eventually known, made sense when there were two components. The phrasing was retained even after pants were made into one complete garment. However, there doesn’t seem to be much evidence in reference sources to support this theory.

Here is something that can be readily confirmed to explain this linguistic oddity, although it may raise more questions than it answers: the word pants is a plurale tantum. The Oxford English Dictionary defines plurale tantum, which is Latin for “plural only,” as a “noun which is used only in plural form, or which is used only in plural form in a particular sense or senses.” Bifurcated items (things that can be divided into two), such as pants, fall into this category. Think of items that are usually referred to in plural—often preceded by “pair of” or something similar, even when there is only one item: pliers, glasses, scissors, sunglasses, tweezers, etc. So, pants is a type of noun that is used only in its plural form, even when there is only one item being discussed.