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Pettipants

Apparel
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Loose knee-length undergarments combining a skirt-like top and shorts.

Detailed Definition
Pettipants are divided undergarments, often loose and trimmed with lace, designed to provide coverage beneath skirts or dresses. Their name and construction belong to a private layer of dress rarely seen in public. In poetry, they can suggest the secret architecture of modesty, the comedy of dressing rituals, or a young person discovering that concealed garments still shape posture, movement, and self-image.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Under her traveling skirt, pettipants kept their quiet secret of cotton and lace”; Pettipants can help a poet evoke vintage underclothing without making the description explicit; “She stitched pettipants by lamplight, one careful seam after another”; A poem may use pettipants to suggest privacy, domestic labor, or an older fashion vocabulary
Additional Notes
Pettipants are loose undergarments combining a skirt-like upper section with separate short legs, usually reaching the knee. They were designed for modesty beneath skirts and dresses. The related term slip shorts refers to a more streamlined modern undergarment.
Also Known As
Tap Pants Panties
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