From the noun wear (“clothing”).
-wear
- Used to form nouns denoting clothing:
- worn by a particular sex (e.g., menswear, womenswear) or age of person (e.g., kidswear).
- worn on a particular part of the body (e.g., neckwear).
- for a particular use (e.g., daywear).
- made in a particular way (e.g., knitwear) or (redundantly) of a particular kind (e.g., shoewear).
- Not to be confused with -ware.
