Etymograph

English

dishwasher

Dishwasher comes from Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘to well’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-‘to well’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dysche wescheare
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2007dishwasher

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-‘to well’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dysche wescheare
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2007dishwasher

Earliest quotation: 2007, Thomas Quealy: “The chefs never cooked before, the cashiers never cashiered…”

Formed from dish + washer

Ancient Greek δικεῖν ‘to cast’

…

Latin discus ‘a discus, quoit’

Proto-West Germanic *disk ‘table’

Old English disċ ‘plate’

Middle English dissh

English dish

Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘wet, water’

…

Proto-West Germanic *waskan ‘to wash’

Old English wascan ‘to wash’

Middle English wasshen ‘to wash’

Middle English wasshere ‘one who debases coins by using acid to wear…’

English washer

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘to well’

water, wet, und, abundance, vodka, wash, surround, abundant, hydro, redundant, otter, hydrate, vitriol, hydride, vitreous, aldehyde, vedra, inundate, undine, 43 more

Today it means

noun A machine for washing dishes.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wed- / dishwasher