lather

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English[edit]

WOTD – 15 January 2016

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English lather, from Old English lēaþor (“a kind of nitre used for soap, soda”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauþr, from Proto-Germanic *lauþrą (“that which is used for washing, soap”), from Proto-Indo-European *lówh₃trom (“that which is used for washing”), from *lewh₃-, *lowh₃- (“to wash, bathe”). Cognate with Swedish lödder (“lather, foam, froth, soap”), Icelandic löður (“foam, froth, a kind of niter used for soap”), Old Irish lóathar (“wash-basin”), Ancient Greek λουτρόν (loutrón, “a bath, wash-room”), Latin lavō (“I wash”), Albanian laj (“I wash”), Ancient Greek λούω (loúō). More at lye.

Noun[edit]

lather (countable and uncountable, plural lathers)

  1. (countable, uncountable) The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water.
    Synonyms: suds, soap suds
  2. (countable, uncountable) Foam from profuse sweating, as of a horse.
  3. (countable) A state of agitation.
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Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English *lethren, from Old English lēþrian, lȳþrian, *līeþrian (“to anoint, smear, lather”), from Old English lēaþor (“a kind of niter used for soap, soda”). See above.

Verb[edit]

lather (third-person singular simple present lathers, present participle lathering, simple past and past participle lathered)

  1. (transitive) To cover with lather.
    The young woman lathered her breasts with lavender-scented soap.
  2. (transitive) To beat or whip.
  3. (intransitive) To form lather or froth, as a horse does when profusely sweating.
    • 1997, Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; republished New York: Vintage Books, 1998, →ISBN, page 147:
      I woke Corporal Honda to see to the horse. Heavily lathered and breathing hard, it had obviously come a long way at high speed.
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