Burkini (n.)

French designer Louis Réard named his 1946 swimsuit the bikini after the Pacific atoll where atomic bombs were then being tested. Seventy years later, a portmanteau — covering bikini and burqa — had its own explosive chain reaction on the beaches of France. Officials in at least 30 municipalities along the Riviera banned the burkini, a type of swimsuit designed to accommodate Islamic traditions of modesty. International criticism was swift, especially after photos of police enforcing the law went viral. But the French population, reeling from a series of recent ISIS-connected attacks, overwhelmingly supported the ban — 64 percent approved, while a further 30 percent were indifferent. By the end of the summer, the ban had made its way all the way to the country’s top administrative court, where it was struck down.

— ALEX KINGSBURY