What does corsage mean?
A corsage is a small arrangement of flowers worn on the body rather than carried, most often pinned near the shoulder or secured around the wrist with an elastic band. It is strongly associated with formal celebrations: high-school proms, weddings, anniversaries, and Mother's Day are the classic occasions on which a corsage is given and worn, traditionally by women, while the male counterpart is the smaller lapel-worn boutonniere. The word entered English from French in the early nineteenth century; in French, 'corsage' originally meant the bodice of a dress, deriving from 'corps', meaning body. That older sense — the fitted upper portion of a garment — still appears in dressmaking and costume contexts, but for most speakers today a corsage means only the flowers. The word carries connotations of romance, ceremony, and tradition, evoking the ritual of a date presenting flowers before a dance.
A small bouquet of flowers worn pinned to a dress or strapped around the wrist, especially by a woman at a formal occasion.
"Her grandmother wore a corsage of gardenias to the wedding."
Wrist corsages have become increasingly common as they avoid damaging delicate fabrics.
The bodice of a woman's dress; the fitted upper part of a garment covering the torso.
"The antique gown featured an embroidered corsage with a low neckline."
This sense is now chiefly found in historical, sewing, and fashion-design contexts.
Regular plural; pronounced identically except for the final /ʒ/ followed by /ɪz/.
"The florist prepared dozens of corsages and boutonnieres for the prom."
The word for that prom-night flower literally comes from the French word for 'bodice' — because it was once pinned straight onto the bodice of a dress.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of corsage
Corsage was borrowed from French in the early nineteenth century. In French, the word originally denoted the bodice of a woman's dress, from 'cors', meaning body, which traces back to Latin 'corpus'. The floral sense developed in French because such bouquets were worn attached to the bodice, and this meaning crossed into English alongside the fashion vocabulary of the era. The word is thus related to 'corset' and, more distantly, to 'corporeal' and 'corps', all stemming from the Latin root for body.
How corsage is actually used
In modern usage, 'corsage' almost always refers to the floral accessory worn at formal occasions, particularly in North America; the older fashion sense referring to a bodice survives mainly in sewing, costume history, and vintage fashion contexts.
Easily confused with corsage
A boutonniere is the small flower worn by men in a lapel buttonhole, while a corsage is the larger floral arrangement worn by women on the wrist or shoulder.