English
unwashed
Unwashed comes from Middle English unwaschen ‘unwashen’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘to well’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-‘to well’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unwaschen‘unwashen’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500unwasched
- Englishearliest quotation 1820unwashed
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-‘to well’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unwaschen‘unwashen’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500unwasched
- Englishearliest quotation 1820unwashed
Earliest quotation: 1820, Walter Scott, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman: “I say that the eyass should have her meat…”
Formed from un- + washed
Proto-Indo-European *n̥- ‘not, un-’
Proto-Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’
Proto-West Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’
English un-
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘to well’
water, wet, vodka, wash, abundance, und, hydro, surround, abundant, otter, redundant, hydrate, vitriol, hydride, vitreous, aldehyde, vedra, inundate, undine, 43 more
Today it means
adj Not having been washed.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wed- / unwashed