jan 1, 1697 - breech

Description:

Breeches are known as an article of clothing which covers the loins and thighs, but the singular was used for the rump, either of animals or humans. 1642 <i>if a weake or sicke Ewe drawe towards lambinge ... take a little hey and putte under her britch,</i> Elmswell (DW83). The same writer employed the spelling <i>breeke</i> (DW72). The term probably came to be linked in people’s minds with ‘breach’ in the sense of gap or fissure: 1697 <i>I will not serve</i> [the warrant] ... <i>you may wipe your breech with it</i>, Barnsley (QS1/36/7).

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