English
lave
Lave comes from Middle English laven ‘to bathe, wash’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *labōn ‘to strengthen’.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*labōn‘to strengthen’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lafian‘to wet, make wet, bathe (something) in a fluid or liquid’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500laven‘to bathe, wash’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592lave
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*labōn‘to strengthen’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lafian‘to wet, make wet, bathe (something) in a fluid or liquid’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500laven‘to bathe, wash’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592lave
Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “[M]y houſe vvithin the City / Is richly furniſhed…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- ‘to wash’
laundry, lavish, lye, solute, lather, latrine, lavage, 15 more
through Latin lavō ‘to wash, bathe’
deluge, alluvial, launder, lavatory, ablution, diluent, 10 more
Another origin of lave
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyp-‘to stick’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lībaną‘to be left, to remain’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laibō‘remainder, remnant’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laibu‘remainder’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lāf‘remainder, rest’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lafe‘remainder, rest’
- Northern Middle Englishmodernlave
- Englishtodaysame form
Today it means
verb To bathe or wash (someone or something).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *labōn / lave