Meanings
plural towels
- A cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying anything wet, such as a person after a bath.
He needed a towel for wiping the slippery floor.
present singular third person towels · US participle present toweling · UK participle present towelling · US participle past toweled · US past toweled · UK participle past towelled · UK past towelled
- transitiveTo dry by using a towel.
He got out of the shower and toweled himself dry.
- transitiveTo hit with a towel.
- transitiveTo block up (a door, etc.) with a towel, to conceal the fumes of a recreational drug.
We would open the windows, towel the door, and turn my bedroom into an Allman Brothers concert.
2012, Dave Tomar, The Shadow Scholar: How I Made a Living Helping College Kids Cheat - UKdialectalobsoletetransitiveTo beat with a stick, or "oaken towel".
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*þwahaną“to wash”
- Frankish*þwahilu“cloth”
- Medieval Latintoallia
- Old Frenchtoaille“towel”
- Middle Englishtowayle
- Englishtowel
From Middle English towayle, towel, towail, towaille, from Old French toaille (“towel”) (modern French touaille), Medieval Latin toallia, from Frankish *þwahilu (“cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *þwahaną (“to wash”). Cognate with Old High German dwahila (“towel”) (modern dialectal German Zwehle), Dutch dwaal (“towel”), dweil (“mop”), Low German Dweel (“towel”), Old English þwǣle (“band; ribbon; fillet”), Old English þwēan (“to wash”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans handdoek
- handdoekcloth used for wiping
Ancient Greek χειρόμακτρον
- χειρόμακτρον (kheirómaktron)cloth used for wiping
Arabic مِنْشَفَة
- مِنْشَفَة (minšafa)cloth used for wiping
Bengali তোয়ালে
- তোয়ালে (tōẇale)cloth used for wiping
Bulgarian къ́рпа, пешки́р
- къ́рпа (kắrpa)cloth used for wiping
- пешки́р (peškír)cloth used for wiping
- ръчени́к (răčeník)cloth used for wiping
Catalan tovallola
- tovallolacloth used for wiping
Chinese Cantonese 毛巾
- 毛巾 (mou⁴ gan¹)cloth used for wiping
Chinese Mandarin 毛巾, 手巾
- 毛巾 (máojīn)cloth used for wiping
- 手巾 (shǒujīn)cloth used for wiping
Czech ručník
- ručníkcloth used for wiping
Danish håndklæde, papir
- håndklædecloth used for wiping
- papircloth used for wiping
- servietcloth used for wiping
Dutch handdoek
- handdoekcloth used for wiping
Esperanto viŝilo, mantuko
- viŝilocloth used for wiping
- mantukocloth used for wiping
Estonian rätik
- rätikcloth used for wiping
Finnish pyyhe, pyyheliina
- pyyhecloth used for wiping
- pyyheliinacloth used for wiping
French serviette
- serviettecloth used for wiping
German Handtuch
- Handtuchcloth used for wiping
Greek πετσέτα
- πετσέτα (petséta)cloth used for wiping
Hebrew מַגֶּבֶת
- מַגֶּבֶת (magévet)cloth used for wiping
Hindi तौलिया, अँगौछा
- तौलिया (tauliyā)cloth used for wiping
- अँगौछा (aṅgauchā)cloth used for wiping
Hungarian törülköző
- törülközőcloth used for wiping
Icelandic handklæði
- handklæðicloth used for wiping
Indonesian handuk
- handukcloth used for wiping
Irish tuáille
- tuáillecloth used for wiping
Italian asciugamano
- asciugamanocloth used for wiping
Japanese タオル
- タオル (taoru)cloth used for wiping
Korean 수건, 타월
- 수건 (sugeon)cloth used for wiping
- 타월 (tawol)cloth used for wiping
Latin mantēle
- mantēlecloth used for wiping
Latvian dvielis
- dvieliscloth used for wiping
Lithuanian rankšluostis
- rankšluostiscloth used for wiping
Malay tuala
- tualacloth used for wiping
Norwegian Bokmål håndkle, handkle
- håndklecloth used for wiping
- handklecloth used for wiping
Polish ręcznik
- ręcznikcloth used for wiping
Portuguese toalha
- toalhacloth used for wiping
Punjabi ਤੌਲੀਆ
- ਤੌਲੀਆ (taulīā)cloth used for wiping
Romanian prosop
- prosopcloth used for wiping
Russian полоте́нце, рушни́к
- полоте́нце (poloténce)cloth used for wiping
- рушни́к (rušník)cloth used for wiping
- ручни́к (ručník)cloth used for wiping
Scottish Gaelic tubhailt, searbhadair
- tubhailtcloth used for wiping
- searbhadaircloth used for wiping
Slovak uterák, ručník
- uterákcloth used for wiping
- ručníkcloth used for wiping
Spanish toalla, toballa
- toallacloth used for wiping
- toballacloth used for wiping
- tobajacloth used for wiping
- fazalejacloth used for wiping
Swahili taulo
- taulocloth used for wiping
Swedish handduk
- handdukcloth used for wiping
Tagalog tuwalya
- tuwalyacloth used for wiping
Tamil துவாலை, துண்டு
- துவாலை (tuvālai)cloth used for wiping
- துண்டு (tuṇṭu)cloth used for wiping
Thai ผ้าขนหนู, ผ้าเช็ดตัว
- ผ้าขนหนู (pâa-kǒn-nǔu)cloth used for wiping
- ผ้าเช็ดตัว (pâa-chét-dtuua)cloth used for wiping
Turkish havlu, peşkir
- havlucloth used for wiping
- peşkircloth used for wiping
Ukrainian рушни́к, утира́ч
- рушни́к (rušnýk)cloth used for wiping
- утира́ч (utyráč)cloth used for wiping
Urdu تَولِیَہ, آبچِین
- تَولِیَہ (tauliya)cloth used for wiping
- آبچِین (ābcīn)cloth used for wiping
- اَن٘گوچھا (aṅgochā)cloth used for wiping
Vietnamese khăn
- khăncloth used for wiping
Welsh tywel
- tywelcloth used for wiping
Yiddish האַנטעך
- האַנטעך (hantekh)cloth used for wiping
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with towel
Anagrams
Cite this entry
towel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/towel
“towel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/towel. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “towel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/towel.
Source: towel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.