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According to the Oxford English Dictionary online, the word pajamas is of Persian origin, first used in 1801.

http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=posts&date=2006.06.20&archives=1

The word pajama comes from a Hindi word that means "leg clothing". Pajamas were introduced around 1880 from India for men to wear for sleeping instead of nightshirts. You can listen to a podcast about the origin of the word pajamas at this site http://podictionary.libsyn.com.... Nightshirts were like a long man's shirt, that came down to the knee or midcalf. Pajamas are different because they cover the legs, whether it be a shirt and pants, or the one-piece footie pjs. You can still buy the footed pajamas, they sell them in adult sizes at this site http://www.jumpinjammerz.com/d.... As for the red-striped gown with a long cap, I didn't find any official source saying this is the most common idea of pajamas. I know I didn't picture this when I first thought of pajamas. I think of some flannel plaid shirt and pants. Plus, a gown technically isn't pajamas, since it doesn't involve trousers (look at any definition of pajamas, such as at http://dictionary.reference.co...). I think that would fall in the category of a nightshirt.

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16y ago

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