What Does Pajamas Mean?
Pajamas are the soft, loose clothes you wear to sleep. They are usually a top and trousers.
It is a noun, and in English it is nearly always plural, like trousers.
I put on my pajamas and brushed my teeth.
The spelling changes. Americans write pajamas, and British English writes pyjamas. Both are correct.
🔊 Pronunciation
puh-JAH-muz (common in British English)
puh-JAM-uz (common in American English)
The stress is on the middle part. Both ways are normal.
🗣️ Natural Examples
I wear my blue pajamas with stars on them.
It was pajama day at school, and even the teacher came in her pajamas.
The pajamas are warm, so I never want to get up.
My little brother fell asleep in his pajamas at the table.
Please put your pajamas in the wash.
🛠️ How to Use It
Pajamas is an everyday word, and you can use it anywhere.
- It is plural, so the verb is plural too: My pajamas are blue.
- To count them, say a pair of pajamas: two pairs of pajamas.
- Before another noun, the singular form is used: a pajama top, a pajama party.
- The short, friendly form is PJs: Put on your PJs.
🤝 Common Word Partners
- a pair of pajamas
- put on your pajamas
- in your pajamas
- a pajama party
- pajama day
- pajama bottoms
👯 Similar and Related Words
- nightclothes: any clothes for sleeping.
- nightshirt: a long shirt worn to bed, with no trousers.
- PJs: the short, friendly form.
- trousers: another clothing word that is always plural.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Pajamas is plural.
❌ My pajamas is blue.
✅ My pajamas are blue.
One set? Say a pair.
❌ I bought a new pajamas.
✅ I bought a new pair of pajamas.
Spelling. The two spellings are tied to places.
✅ pajamas (American)
✅ pyjamas (British)
💬 In a Conversation
Sam: Why is it always pajamas and never one pajama?
Mia: It works like trousers. One thing with two legs, but the word is plural.
Sam: Then where is the second pajama?
Mia: On the other leg.
Sam: That is how my pajamas look in the morning.
🕵️ Where Does It Come From?
The word comes from India. English took it from Hindustani (Urdu), and that word came from Persian: pāy means "foot" or "leg", and jāma means "clothes". So the word began as "leg clothes".
The earliest record in English is from 1801, but that only shows the earliest record we have. British people living in India took up these loose trousers and brought the word home.
In Britain they were first seen as relaxed clothes for lounging. From about the 1870s, they became bedtime clothes.
English added the -s at the end, which is why the word is plural like trousers.
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Split the word: pa-jama.
Pa means leg and jama means clothes. So a pair of pajamas is leg clothes. And since you have two legs, the -s makes sense.