Chaps ( or ) are sturdy coverings for the legs consisting of leggings and a belt. They are buckled on over trousers with the chaps' integrated belt, but unlike trousers they have no seat and are not joined at the crotch. They are designed to provide protection for the legs and are usually made of leather or a leather-like material. They are most commonly associated with the cowboy culture of the American west as a protective garment to be used when riding a horse through brushy terrain. In the modern world, they are worn for both practical work purposes and for exhibition or show use.

History

The earliest form of protective leather garment used by mounted riders who herded cattle in Spain and Mexico were called armas, which meant "shield." They were essentially two large pieces of cowhide that were used as a protective apron of sorts. They attached to the horn of the rider's stock saddle, and were spread across both the horse's chest and the rider's legs. From this early and rather cumbersome design came modifications that placed the garment entirely on the rider, and then style variations adapted as vaqueros and later, cowboys moved up from Mexico into the pacific coast and northern Rockies of what today is the United States and Canada. There is also evidence that certain design features may also descend from the Mountain men, who copied them from the leggings worn by Native Americans.Blevins, Win. Dictionary of the American West. Seattle:Sasquatch Books, 2001 ISBN 1-57061-304-4, pp.75-76
"Gifts from the Indians," North Carolina Indians, web page accessed April 14, 2008
Ward, Fay E. The Cowboy at Work, Courier Dover Publications, 1958/2003 reprint. ISBN 0486426998 p. 227. Accessed April 14, 2008 Different styles developed to fit the local climate, terrain and hazards. Designs were also modified for purely stylistic and decorative purposes. The time of actual appearance of the garment on American cowboys is uncertain. By the late 1870s, however, most Texas cowboys wore them as the cattle industry moved north.Rickey, Don Jr. $10 Horse, $40 Saddle: Cowboy Clothing, Arms, Tools and Horse Gear of the 1880's. The Old Army Press, 1976, LC no. 76-9411. pp.46-47 By 1884, the Dictionary of American Regional English notes use of the word in Wyoming, spelled "schaps."Cassidy, Frederic G., ed. Dictionary of American Regional English, vol. I. Cambridge/London:Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985 ISBN 0-674-20511-1 (vol I)

The word chaps is a clip of chaparejos or chaparreras,Simpson, J.A., Weiner, E.S.C. (prepared by). Oxford English Dictionary, vol. III (Chan-creeky). Oxford:Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 1989, 2000 reprint, pp. 24 and 28. ISBN 0-19-861215-X (Vol. III only), ISBN 0-19-861186-2 (set)
Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary Web page accessed 14 APR 08
Multiple definitions and etymologies of chaps Web page accessed March 10, 2008 which are Mexican Spanish words for this garment, ultimately derived from Spanish chaparro,Vocabulario Vaquero p. 52-54.
Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia
New Encyclopedia Brittanica
Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language
The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
The History of Basque
Diccionario de la Lengua Española
1 one sense of which is a low growing thicket--difficult to ride through without damage to clothing. In English, the word has two common pronunciations: 2 and 3. Since at least the end of the 19th century, in the western United States and Canada, English-speaking riders have tended to pronounce the word 4. This pronunciation is also used among rodeo riders in New Zealand. English-speaking riders in the eastern United States and Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have tended to pronounce the word 5.