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When searching for "swimsuit", I often see just 1 type that looks like this
But my daughter has a pair of pants and a top designed for swimming like this
Do we say "My daughter is wearing a swimsuit"?
Also, when a man goes swimming, he might just wear a pair of shorts designed for swimming that looks like this
It's quite tight and it is made of special cloth.
Do we say "The man is wearing a swimsuit"?
I grew up in Colorado and lived in Texas.
Yes, for your pictures I would say "That woman is wearing a swimsuit", "My daughter is wearing a swimsuit", "The man is wearing a swimsuit".
In normal general discussion I use 'swimsuit' to refer to all types of swimming clothing regardless of gender, type, or number of pieces.
When asked for specifics I would use other terms:
Note:
Wetsuits and drysuits are not 'typical' 'recreational' swimwear and I would not refer to them as swimsuits.
"Is he wearing a normal swimsuit to go diving?" "No, it's really cold and he brought his wetsuit."
For me, a Canadian, the word "swimsuit" can cover anything designed to be worn while swimming, including bikinis, swim trunks and single-piece suits for women. It would also include the type of gear your daughter has.
That said, "swimsuit" is more often used specifically to mean a single-piece suit for women like the top one pictured, so if I were talking to a group of mixed ages and genders, I would say, "Let's get our swimming clothes on".
To Canadians -- and I suspect Americans -- the term "swimming costume" sounds outdated, and we would only use it to refer to the full body suits men stopped wearing about 100 years ago:
Merriam-Webster and Cambridge Dictionary define swimsuit as a suit/piece of clothing for swimming or bathing. Collins Dictionary suggests that it is
A swimsuit is a piece of clothing that is worn for swimming, especially by women and girls
I'd be inclined to agree with Cambridge and Collins, who both say that a swimsuit is a [single] piece of clothing.
As the clothing in the second picture is not a single piece, I would call it a full swimming costume, where full indicates that it covers the legs an arms.
For the man, I wouldn't call it a swimsuit: I agree with Collins that a swimsuit is a term used for women's swimwear, so I would call it/them [swimming] trunks or swimming shorts, or a swimming costume.
Note that in Australia they use the word bathers to refer to any kind of swimwear.
I (west coast of the U.S.) would personally call both the woman’s and the man’s swimwear a “swimsuit.” I might also call the man’s, “swim trunks.”
I probably wouldn’t call the girl’s swimwear a “swimsuit,” although I don’t think that’s an error. It reminds me of an old-fashioned “bathing suit” or a modern “wetsuit,” although it isn’t either of those.
I would also call a two-piece bikini a “swimsuit.” Thinking about it, I’d also call a matching pair of briefs and a tank top a “swimsuit” on a woman, but not a man. I’m not sure why, but I seem to think of a woman’s two-piece swimsuit as a single garment.
To give a UK perspective:
Calling trunks a "swimsuit" would be weird, although not strictly incorrect.
A "swimsuit" is typically a onepiece that covers the genitals and chest (at a minimum). I think the clue here is the "suit" part of the word, trunks alone would be half of a suit.
If you want a generic term, I'd go with "swimwear".
Some Australian states have one word for all types of clothing worn while swimming: swimmers.
I just need to get me swimmers on Dad.
It applies to any type of clothing meant for swimming for anyone, even cats.
My daughter is wearing a full-body, two-piece swimsuit.
[These are usually worn as protection against the sun AKA rash guards]
full-body two-piece swimsuit or swimwear, for the little girl
In the US. A retailer would use swimsuit for both sexes. An older person might say swimsuit for both sexes. An event organizer also. Young/er people say bathing suit (for both sexes), board shorts (for men/boys, longer trunks), trunks, swim trunks. Girls say bathing suit for what they wear (a one-piece, two-piece, tankini or bikini)/
But a young guy would not use swimsuit in speaking to another young guy.
Yesterday, after answering this question, I went to a local pizzeria (Northeast US) where I saw a group of young ladies (14 to 16). I asked them: Can you imagine one young guy saying to another: Hey, dude, did you bring your swimsuit? They all laughed and said NO very loud.
No, the word swimsuit is not used for men except generically on a website or in retailing or event organizing. Speech between men would not usually contain the word swimsuit in conversation. Swim trunks or swimming trunks or even board shorts are more accurate in every day conversation.
Swim briefs are "European look" swimwear or racing briefs. Apparently, these briefs are making a comeback. For a number of years (in the U.S. at least), men's swim trunks became long-ish shorts.
He is wearing a speedo or swim briefs.
This answer is not a treatise on swimwear terminology. It seeks to answer the specific questions from the OP.
