Chinos are trousers, usually fairly loose, made from a strong cotton cloth with a slight diagonal weave — the same family of cloth as khaki. The usual colours are beige, stone, navy, or olive. They sit in the middle: smarter than jeans, less formal than suit trousers. People wear them to the office on a relaxed day, to a weekend lunch, or anywhere they want to look neat without a suit. You almost always say a pair of chinos; the cloth itself is chino, but in shops you buy chinos. They wash well and they wrinkle. Though actually, they are not “Chinese trousers,” even if the cloth name looks as if it might be. They are an ordinary Western casual cut.