Etymology

wash

W4A1S1H4

Today it means: To clean with water. Full definition →

Middle English waschen ← Old English wascan ← Proto-West Germanic *waskan
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wash · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wed-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wodsḱéti
  3. Proto-Germanic*waskaną
  4. Proto-West Germanic*waskan
  5. Old Englishwascan
  6. Middle Englishwaschen
  7. English todaywash

From Middle English wasshen, waschen (“to wash”), from Old English wascan (“to wash”), from Proto-West Germanic *waskan (“to wash”), from Proto-Germanic *waskaną, *watskaną (“to wash, get wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“wet, water”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian waaske (“to wash”), West Frisian waskje (“to wash”), Dutch wassen, wasschen (“to wash”), Low German waschen (“to wash”), German waschen (“to wash”), Danish vaske (“to wash”), Faroese and Icelandic vaska (“to wash”), Norwegian Bokmål vaske (“to wash”), Norwegian Nynorsk vaske, vaska (“to wash”), Swedish vaska (“to wash”). The noun is cognate with Saterland Frisian Waaske (“wash”), West Frisian wask (“wash”), Dutch was (“wash”), Low German Wask, Waske (“wash”), German Wäsche (“wash”), Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish vask (“wash”).

Wash · proper noun2

Possibilities are discussed at The Wash § History.

Wash · proper noun3

Clipping of Washington.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*wed- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.