Etymology
1. O.E.
wascan, wæscan, from P.Gmc.
*watskanan (cf. O.N.
vaska, M.Du.
wasscen, Du.
wassen, Ger.
waschen), from stem
*wat-, the source of
water. Used mainly of clothes in O.E. (the principal verb for washing the body, dishes, etc. being
þwean). Verbal phrase
wash out "obliterate, cancel" is attested from 1580; hence colloquial sense of "to call off (an event) due to bad weather, etc.;" the noun sense of "disappointing failure" is recorded from 1902.
Washed-out "faded" is from 1837;
washed up is 1923 theater slang, from notion of washing up one's hands at the end of a job.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *wed-
4. Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti
5. Proto-Indo-European *wodsḱéti
6. Proto-Germanic *waskaną
7. Proto-West Germanic *waskan
8. Old English wascan
9. Middle English wasshen
10. English wash
11. From Middle English wasshen, waschen, weschen (“to wash”), from Old English wascan (“to wash”), from Proto-West Germanic *waskan (“to wash”), from Proto-Germanic *waskaną, *watskaną (“to wash, get wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“wet, water”).
12. Cognate with Saterland Frisian waaske (“to wash”), West Frisian waskje (“to wash”), Dutch wassen, wasschen (“to wash”), Low German waschen (“to wash”), German waschen (“to wash”), Danish vaske (“to wash”), Faroese and Icelandic vaska (“to wash”), Norwegian Bokmål vaske (“to wash”), Norwegian Nynorsk vaske, vaska (“to wash”), Swedish vaska (“to wash”).
13. The noun is cognate with Saterland Frisian Waaske (“wash”), West Frisian wask (“wash”), Dutch was (“wash”), Low German Wask, Waske (“wash”), German Wäsche (“wash”), Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish vask (“wash”). See: Old English '
wascan', Frisian, Saterlandic 'waaske', Dutch '
wassen', Low Saxon 'waschen', German, old spelling '
waschen', Danish '
vaske', Icelandic '
vaska', Norwegian '
vaske', Norwegian, nynorsk '
vaske', Swedish '
vaska', Frisian, Saterlandic 'Waaske'.
Verbs referencing "wash"
German, old spelling
waschen, Sranan
wasi, Danish
vaske, Norwegian
vaske, Cimbrian bèssan, Cebuano waswas, Luxembourgish
wäschen, German, Pennsylvania
wesche, Frisian, Saterlandic waaske, Alemannic German
wäsche.