Etymograph

English

bathe

Bathe comes from Middle English bathen ‘to bath or wash’, from Proto-West Germanic *baþōn ‘to bathe’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₁- ‘to warm’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₁-‘to warm’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baþōną‘to bathe’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baþōn‘to bathe’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150baþian‘to bathe, wash’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bathen‘to bath or wash’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1828bathe

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₁-‘to warm’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baþōną‘to bathe’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baþōn‘to bathe’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150baþian‘to bathe, wash’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bathen‘to bath or wash’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1828bathe

Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “At this sound, which she had not heard for…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₁- ‘to warm’

bed, 3 more

through Middle English bathen ‘to bath or wash’

bathing

Today it means

verb To clean oneself by immersion in water or using water; to take a bath, have a bath.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₁- / bathe

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