Culottes are an item of clothing worn on the lower half of the body. The term can refer to either split skirts, historical men's breeches, or women's underpants; this is an example of fashion-industry words taken from designs across history, languages and cultures, then being used to describe different garments, often creating confusion among historians and readers. The French word culotte is a pair of panties, pants, knickers, trousers, shorts, or breeches; derived from the French word culot, meaning the lower half of a thing, the lower garment in this case.