In 1946, the United States performed nuclear tests on the Bikini Islands (specifically the island called Bikini Atoll.) A nuclear bomb was detonated and the effects of the fallout and radiation were measured.
This was regarded by many as a sign that the world was about to end in nuclear war. The general feeling was that people ought to enjoy themselves in their final days and to stop being so uptight. A two-piece swimsuit was introduced in the spirit of these decadent days, and it was called the "bikini".
So go show some skin... the end of the world might be closer than you think.
No, bikini is not a French word. Although it was used in French.
No, it was named after Bikini Atoll.
in Hawaii
The word "bikini" is derived from French, not Greek or Latin. It was named after the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands where atomic bomb testing took place in the 1940s.
In The 1950s
It is a French word apparently after Bikini atoll
"Bikini" is the same in English and, as a loan word, in Italian.
from china
thong
A Bandeaukini is another word for Bikini.
Bikini
A fashion company named it on that the nuclear tests on bikini island were so hot that their product must be that hot too. Bikini caught on.