Where does “bikini” come from?

Bikini is an English word from French bikini, ultimately from Bikini, the atoll in the Marshall Islands where nuclear tests were conducted in 1946.

bikini (English): A brief two-piece bathing suit worn by women,...

Definitions

  1. A brief two-piece bathing suit worn by women,...

Ancestry of “bikini”, step by step

bikini traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via French Bikini

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FrenchBikiniBikini atoll
2EnglishBikiniBikini atoll
3GermanBikiniA bikini, scanty two-piece bathing suit, named...
4MarshallesePikinni—
5Marshallesepika plane surface; a layer; a stratum
6Marshallesepikpik—

via French bikini

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchbikinibikini
Every word from Marshallese pikpik →Every word from Marshallese pik →Every word from Marshallese Pikinni →