Well attestedNamed from the place
bikini
noun · first attested 1946
The swimsuit is named for a nuclear test site.
A two-piece swimsuit.
11.6000°N 165.4000°E · Q152225
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1946
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Bikini Atoll
- In English
bikini
In 1946 Louis Réard named a two-piece swimsuit after Bikini Atoll, where the United States had just begun nuclear tests. The atoll’s own name is Marshallese and has nothing to do with swimming.