Wellington boot
Type of waterproof boot
A Wellington boot, gumboot, rubber boot, rain boot, rainboot, or welly for short, is a type of waterproof boot made of rubber.
Originally a type of leather riding boot adapted from Hessian boots, a style of military footwear, Wellington boots were worn and popularised by the Anglo-Irish military officer and politician Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. They became a staple of practical footwear for the British aristocracy and the British middle class in the early 19th century. The term was subsequently applied to waterproof rubber boots ubiquitously worn today in a range of agricultural and outdoors pursuits.
Names
The term Wellington boot comes from Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who instructed his shoemaker to create the boot by modifying the design of the Hessian boot. The terms gumboot and rubber boot are both derived from the rubber modern Wellington boots are made from, with the term "gum" coming from gum rubber.
The terms Wellington boot and gumboot are most commonly used in British English, with the term being occasionally used in American English. Instead, the terms rubber boot and rain boot are more commonly used in American English. Further, in American English, the term Wellington boot is sometimes used to specifically refer to Wellington boots with a more fashionable design.
History
Origins
The Duke of Wellington instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St.
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This entry incorporates text from “Wellington boot” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.