Necropants

//ˈnɛkɹoʊˌpænts// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A pair of pants made from the skin of the lower half (below the waist) of a dead man, used by medieval Icelandic sorcerers to obtain money. historical, plural, plural-only

    "Most of the occult practices they were accused of were simply old Viking traditions, though the necropants (see right) and grimoires (magic books) on display were proof enough for the local witch-hunters."

Example

More examples

"Most of the occult practices they were accused of were simply old Viking traditions, though the necropants (see right) and grimoires (magic books) on display were proof enough for the local witch-hunters."

Etymology

From necro- + pants, a calque of Icelandic nábrók.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.