The edge or border of a piece of cloth, especially the lower edge of a skirt, dress, or pants leg that has been folded and sewn.
From 'hem' (the folded edge of fabric) plus 'line', combining Old English 'ham' (to fold) with 'line' around the 1800s to describe the visible boundary of sewn clothing.
Hemlines have been a barometer of social change—when women's rights movements gained momentum, hemlines rose, and fashion historians literally measure social progress by the inches!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.