a sort of garment consisting of breeches and stockings all of one piece; said to have been first introduced by the Venetians.

on the theatre, is a buffoon or masked person, who performs high and grotesque dances, and shows violent and extravagant postures and airs. The word is likewise used for the habit or dress these buffoons usually wear; which is made precisely to the Pantheist form of their body, and all of a piece from head to foot.

And hence those who wear a habit of this kind, for convenience, under their other clothes, are called pantaloons of Venice.