different between pajamas vs nightcap

English

Alternative forms

• pyjamas (Australia, UK, Canada)

Etymology

From Urdu ??????? (p?j?ma)/Hindi ?????? (paij?m?), from Persian ??????? / ??????? (pâyjâma / pâjâma, “leg garment”), akin to ??? (“leg”) + ????? (“garment”).

Pronunciation

• (Mid-Atlantic, New England, Southern American English) IPA^(key): /p??d???.m?z/
• (Canada, Midland, Northern US, Western US) IPA^(key): /p??d??æ.m?z/

Noun

pajamas pl (normally plural, singular pajama)

1. Clothes for wearing to bed and sleeping in, usually consisting of a loose-fitting shirt and pants/trousers.
2. Loose-fitting trousers worn by both sexes in various southern Asian countries including India.

Usage notes

Pajamas is chiefly an American spelling; the rest of the English-speaking world uses pyjamas.

Derived terms

• pj's
• cat's pajamas
• pajama

Translations

References

See also

• nightshirt
• nightie

Welsh

Alternative forms

• pyjamas

Etymology

Borrowed from English pyjamas.

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /pa?d??amas/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /pa?d??amaz/

Noun

pajamas m pl

1. pyjamas

Mutation

English

Etymology

night +? cap

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?na?t?kæp/

Noun

nightcap (plural nightcaps)

1. A warm cloth cap worn while sleeping, often with pajamas, being common attire in northern Europe before effective home heating became widespread. [From 14th c.]

   Winston wore a nightcap to stave off the cold.

2. A beverage drunk before bed that is usually alcoholic. [From 1818.]

   I'll make myself a nightcap of whisky and lemon before heading to bed.

3. (by extension, figuratively) Something the person reads or listens to before bed.
   • 1920, Granville Stanley Hall, Recreations of a Psychologist

     " […] and as a nightcap I happened to pick the copy of Plato […] "

4. (US, sports, baseball) The final match of a sporting contest, especially the second game of a baseball doubleheader. [From 1939.]
5. (historical) A cap drawn over the face of the condemned person before they are hanged.

Translations

Anagrams

• patching