lingerie

See also: Lingerie

English

Assorted lingerie styles.

Etymology

Borrowed from French lingerie (“linen closet”). The irregular pronunciation is a hyperforeignism; it may derive from the frequent shift of /ɛ̃/ (which is this word's first vowel in standard French) toward /ɑ̃/ or [æ̃] in European French, which also tends to be drifted towards /ɔ̃/.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒndʒəɹi/, /ˈlɒndʒəɹeɪ/, /ˈlɒ̃ʒəɹi/, /ˈlɒ̃ʒəɹeɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌlɑn.ʒəˈɹeɪ/, /ˈlɑn.ʒə.ɹi/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˌlɔn.(d)ʒəˈɹæɪ/, /ˈlɔ̃.(d)ʒə.ɹæɪ/, /-ɹi/
• Rhymes: -eɪ, -iː

Noun

lingerie (usually uncountable, plural lingeries)

1. Underwear or nightclothes (typically women's), especially when lacy or designed to be seductive.

   Synonym: intimate apparel

2. (dated) Linen goods collectively.
   • 1906, Dry Goods Guide, volumes 17-18, page 70:

     Empire matinees in lingerie stuffs with trimmings of lace and embroidery are shown in great variety.

Derived terms

• lingeried
• lingerie party
• lingerie shower
• lingerie tape

Related terms

• linen

Translations

underwear or nightclothes

• Arabic: مَلَابِس اَلنِّسَاء اَلتَّحْتِيَّة pl (malābis an-nisāʔ at-taḥtiyya)
• Basque: lentzeria
• Bengali: ল্যানজারি (lênjari)
• Bulgarian: дамско бельо n (damsko beljo)
• Catalan: llenceria (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 女內衣 / 女内衣 (nǚ nèiyī)

• Czech: prádélko n
• Dutch: lingerie (nl) f
• Esperanto: ekscitvesto
• Finnish: alusvaatteet (fi) pl
• French: lingerie (fr) f
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: linzjery

• Galician: brancura f, lenzaría f
• German: Damenunterwäsche (de) f, Dessous (de) n pl, Lingerie (de) f, Reizwäsche (de) f
• Hebrew: הלבשה תחתונה f (halbashá taḥtoná)
• Hungarian: fehérnemű (hu)
• Irish: éadaí cnis m pl
• Italian: biancheria (it) f, lingerie (it) f, lingeria (it) f
• Japanese: ランジェリー (ja) (ranjerī)
• Korean: 란제리 (ranjeri)
• Latin: multīcia n pl
• Lithuanian: moteriškas apatinis trikotažas
• Maltese: ħwejjeġ ta’ taħt fini pl
• Manx: fo-eaddagh ben m
• Persian: زیر پوشی زن (zir puši zan)
• Polish: bielizna (damska) f, odzież nocna f
• Portuguese: lingerie (pt) f, camisola (pt) (Brazil)
• Russian: да́мское бельё n (dámskoje belʹjó), же́нское ни́жнее бельё n (žénskoje nížneje belʹjó)
• Spanish: ropa blanca f, ropa interior f, ropa íntima f, lencería (es) f
• Swedish: damunderkläder (sv) pl, raffset n
• Vietnamese: đồ lót

See also

• crotchless
• negligee
• nightie, nighty

Further reading

• lingerie on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French lingerie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌlɪn.ʒəˈri/, /ˌlɛn.ʒəˈri/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lin‧ge‧rie
• Rhymes: -i

Noun

lingerie f (plural lingeries or lingerieën, diminutive lingerietje n)

1. lingerie (women's underwear)
2. (dated) lingerie (linens)

Derived terms

• lingerieboetiek
• lingeriedraagster
• lingerieset
• lingeriewinkel
• lingeriezaak

French

Etymology

From linge +‎ -erie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛ̃ʒ.ʁi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

lingerie f (plural lingeries)

1. linen room
2. lingerie (clothing)

Descendants

• → English: lingerie
• → German: Lingerie
• → Italian: lingerie
• → Portuguese: lingerie
• → Romanian: lenjerie

Further reading

• “lingerie”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from French lingerie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lin.d͡ʒeˈri/^*, (careful style) /ˌlɛnʒˈri/^*

Noun

lingerie f (invariable)

1. lingerie

Further reading

• “lingerie”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *līnomder.

Proto-Italic *līnom

Latin līnum

Proto-Indo-European *-éyos

Proto-Italic *-ejos

Proto-Italic *-eos

Latin -eus

Latin līneus

Old French linge

French linge

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -ārius

Old French -ier

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -ia

Old French -ie

Old French -erieder.

French -erie

French lingerieubor.

Portuguese lingerie

Unadapted borrowing from French lingerie.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃.ʒeˈʁi/ [lɐ̃.ʒeˈhi]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃.ʒeˈʁi/ [lɐ̃.ʒeˈhi]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃.ʒeˈʁi/ [lɐ̃.ʒeˈχi]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃.ʒɨˈɾi/

• Rhymes: -i

Noun

lingerie f (plural lingeries)

1. women's underwear
   • 2007, Tania Menai, Nova York do Oiapoque ao Chuí: relatos de brasileiros na cidade que nunca dorme, Casa da Palavra, →ISBN, page 129:

     O pessoal daqui viu como a gente fotografa bem, como as meninas são bonitas, todas elas são sexys, têm corpo legal, a maioria é desinibida — ou seja, não há problema de vestir biquíni ou lingerie e fotografar.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• “lingerie”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Romanian

Noun

lingerie f (plural lingerii)

1. alternative form of lenjerie

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	lingerie	lingeria	lingerii	lingeriile
genitive-dative	lingerii	lingeriei	lingerii	lingeriilor
vocative	lingerie, lingerio		lingeriilor