culottes definition
Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Culottes is a word that originated in the French language. Historically, culottes referred to the knee-breeches commonly worn by gentlemen of the European upper-classes from the late Middle Ages or Renaissance through the early nineteenth century.
Contemporary French under-pants. The term culottes in French is now used to describe women's panties, an article of clothing that has little or no relation to the historic men's culotte breeches, except that in French, calling something culottes is like calling them bottoms.