maillot

noun

mail·​lot mī-ˈō 

mä-ˈyō

1

: tights for dancers or gymnasts

2

: jersey sense 1a

3

: a woman's one-piece bathing suit

Examples of maillot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Streamlined silhouettes from bandeau bikinis to classic maillots are extra chic when outlined with a contrasting trim. — Rosie Jarman, Vogue, 22 Apr. 2026

Models of all shapes and sizes were sent down the runway in styles hotter than Kendall in August, from bright colored string bikinis to shimmery, bare-all maillots and cute mini dresses with spaghetti straps. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 30 May 2025

The maillot is the most common style of one-piece swimsuit, though others are available. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 28 May 2025

Sure, the South of France lures beautiful people eager to indulge in sunning, day drinking and looking divine in a maillot. — Gráinne O'Hara Belluomo, Footwear News, 26 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, "cloth for swaddling a baby, tights," going back to late Middle French, "cloth for swaddling a baby," alteration (by suffix substitution) of Old French maillol, mailleul, probably from maille "link in chain armor, mail entry 3, mesh" + -ol, -eul, noun suffix, going back to Latin -iolum, diminutive suffix

Note: According to Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (vol. 6:1, p. 55) the word maillot in reference to tights is first mentioned in the memoirs of the French actor François-Joseph Talma (1763-1826), according to which the actor Larive (stage name of Jean Mauduit, 1747-1827) claimed that "Nous devons l'invention des maillots au sieur Maillot, qui leur a laissé son nom" ("We owe the invention of maillots to sieur Maillot, who bequeathed them his name"). This quotation appears to have been taken by the Wörterbuch editor from Émile Littré's Dictionnaire de la langue française (vol. 3, 1874); Littré remarks that if this anecdote is not true, the theatrical maillot was named after the maillot of the infant. The source of the quote is actually not Talma, who did not publish his own memoirs, but the Mémoires historiques et critiques sur F.-J. Talma et sur l'art théatral (Paris, 1827), by the novelist and pamphleteer Jean-Joseph Regnault-Warin (1773-1844), where it occurs on p. 309. Larive, though mentioned many times in the book, is not given as the source of the attribution. No further evidence for a French hosiery provider named Maillot has surfaced, and there is apparently no record of the word in this sense before its use by Regnault-Warin.

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for maillot

• chelate
• pellet
• prelate
• zealot
• appellate