long-sleeve
Meaning
Having sleeves that extend to the wrist or near the wrist.
Structure
Usage
She prefers to wear long-sleeve shirts even in the summer.
The dress code requires a long-sleeve blouse for the presentation.
He rolled up the cuffs of his long-sleeve t-shirt.
Etymology
The compound adjective "long-sleeve" is a transparent combination of two native English words. "Long," with its Proto-Germanic root langgaz, conveys the primary concept of extended linear dimension. "Sleeve," deriving from Proto-Germanic slaubijō, originally referred to a hanging flap or part of a garment. The compound logically and descriptively denotes a garment whose sleeves possess this characteristic of considerable length, covering most of the arm. This straightforward descriptive formation follows a common pattern in English for specifying attributes of clothing, where a physical feature is directly prefixed to the name of the garment part.
Analysis
- long: From Old English lang, long, meaning "having considerable linear extent." It is of Germanic origin. - sleeve: From Old English slīef, slȳf, meaning "arm-covering part of a garment." It is of Germanic origin.