Meanings
long johns1
attributive long-john · attributive long john · alternative long-johns · alternative longjohns
- USpluralplural onlyA full-length undergarment, worn on the bottom half of the body, or two-piece, to keep the wearer warm in cold weather.
Synonyms: long underwear, thermal underwear, union suit
long johns2
- pluralplural of long john
Long Johns3
- pluralplural of Long John
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA full-length undergarment, worn on the bottom half of the body, or two-piece, to keep the wearer warm in cold weather.
Origin
long johns · noun
Reputedly named after American heavyweight boxer John L. Sullivan (1858–1918); also posed as an approximation of French longues jambes (“long legs”); see Wikipedia.
Full word history & related roots →long johns · noun
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 保溫內衣 /保温内衣, 長內衣褲 /长内衣裤
- 保溫內衣 /保温内衣 (bǎonuǎn nèiyī)full-length undergarments
- 長內衣褲 /长内衣裤 (chángnèiyīkù)garment for bottom half of the body
- 秋褲 /秋裤 (qiūkù)garment for bottom half of the body
Czech spodky, podvlékačky
- spodkyfull-length undergarments
- podvlékačkyfull-length undergarments
Dutch lange onderbroek
- lange onderbroekgarment for bottom half of the body
Finnish pitkät alusvaatteet, pitkät alushousut
- pitkät alusvaatteetfull-length undergarments
- pitkät alushousutgarment for bottom half of the body
French caleçon long
- caleçon longgarment for bottom half of the body
German lange Unterhose
- lange Unterhosegarment for bottom half of the body
Hebrew גַּטְקֶס
- גַּטְקֶס (gátqes)full-length undergarments
Hungarian meleg alsóruha/alsónemű/alsóruházat, jégernadrág
- meleg alsóruha/alsónemű/alsóruházatfull-length undergarments
- jégernadrággarment for bottom half of the body
- jégeralsógarment for bottom half of the body
- jégergatyagarment for bottom half of the body
- jégergarment for bottom half of the body
Italian calzamaglia
- calzamagliagarment for bottom half of the body
Japanese タイツ, 股引
- タイツ (taitsu)garment for bottom half of the body
- 股引 (momohiki)garment for bottom half of the body
- ズボン下 (zubon shita)garment for bottom half of the body
Polish kalesony, kalesony
- kalesonyfull-length undergarments
- kalesonygarment for bottom half of the body
Portuguese ceroulas, calção
- ceroulasfull-length undergarments
- calçãofull-length undergarments
- ceroulasgarment for bottom half of the body
Romanian izmene
- izmenegarment for bottom half of the body
Russian кальсо́ны, кальсо́ны
- кальсо́ны (kalʹsóny)full-length undergarments
- кальсо́ны (kalʹsóny)garment for bottom half of the body
Spanish calzoncillos largos, pantalón interior largo
- calzoncillos largosfull-length undergarments
- pantalón interior largogarment for bottom half of the body
Swedish långkalsonger
- långkalsongerfull-length undergarments
Cite this entry
long johns. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20johns
“long johns.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20johns. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “long johns,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20johns.
Source: long johns on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.