Etymograph

English

lather

Lather comes from Old English lēaþor ‘a kind of nitre used for soap, soda’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- ‘to wash’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₃-‘to wash’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lówh₃trom‘that which is used for washing’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lauþrą‘that which is used for washing, soap’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lauþrreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēaþor‘a kind of nitre used for soap, soda’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lather
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1922same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₃-‘to wash’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lówh₃trom‘that which is used for washing’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lauþrą‘that which is used for washing, soap’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lauþrreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēaþor‘a kind of nitre used for soap, soda’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lather
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1922same form

Earliest quotation: 1922, James Joyce, [Episode 1: Telemachus]: “Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- ‘to wash’

laundry, lavish, deluge, alluvial, lye, solute, lavatory, launder, ablution, diluent, latrine, laver, lave, lavage, 14 more

Another origin of lather

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₃-‘to wash, bathe’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lówh₃trom‘that which is used for washing’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lauþrą‘soap’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lauþrijaną‘to soap, wash’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lauþrijan‘to soap’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150līeþran‘to soap, lather’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500letheren
  8. Englishtodaylather

Today it means

noun The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- / lather

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