WordofTheDay.US

Added 9 October 2026

wash

/wɒʃ/ noun

Categories: ThingsActionsEveryday Words

In Latin: lavō, luo Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wash at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A thin coat of water-base paint.
  2. The work of cleansing (usually with soap and water).
  3. The dry bed of an intermittent stream (as at the bottom of a canyon).

verb

  1. Clean with some chemical process.
  2. Cleanse (one's body) with soap and water.
  3. Cleanse with a cleaning agent, such as soap, and water.
    Wash the towels, please!

Origin

From Middle English wasshen, waschen, weschen (“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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: rinselaundrylavelaundermoistendampenairstreamslipstreambackwashrace

Back to today's word