Meaning
To bathe or wash (someone or something).
Etymology
Origin: Old English
The verb is derived from Middle English laven (“to bathe, wash; to bail or draw water, drain, exhaust; to dampen, wet; to pour; of water, etc.: to flow, stream”), and then partly: * from Old French laver (“to be washed; to wash”) (modern French laver (“to wash (oneself)”)), from Latin lavāre, the present active infinitive of lavō (“to bathe, wash; to dampen, wet”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”); and * from Old English lafian (“to bathe; to make wet; to ladle out; to pour”), from Proto-West Germanic *labōn (“to refresh, revitalize; to strengthen”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Latin lavō (see above) but this does not explain the change in meaning from “to wash; to wet” to “to refresh; to strengthen”. Perhaps Old English lafian is derived directly from the Latin word, and Proto-West Germanic *labōn and words in languages derived from it such as Dutch and German are coincidentally similar to the Old English word. The noun is derived from the verb.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 14 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-04-29VATEGLO
- 2025-12-19VTAPIEL
- 2025-06-30LAUHEPV
- 2025-05-31LYAVEBO
- 2025-03-06VALECIT
- 2025-01-29VOANECL
- 2024-09-14AENJILV
- 2024-07-23AEIKLTV
- 2024-04-15LANECVH
- 2024-03-29VATEDLU
- 2023-12-28AYEVUGL
- 2023-07-20LAYVEHI
+2 earlier appearances in the archive.