laundry | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

6 entries found.

late 14c., "place for washing;" mid-15c., "act of washing," a contraction (compare launder) of Middle English lavendrie (late 13c.), from Old French lavanderie "wash-house," from Vulgar Latin *lavandaria "things to be washed," plural of lavandarium, from Latin lavare "to wash" (from PIE root *leue- "to wash"). English meaning "articles that need to be or have been laundered" is from 1916. As a verb, from 1880. Laundry list in figurative sense is from 1958.

laundress (n.)

1540s; see laundry + -ess.

laundromat (n.)

"automatic coin-operated public laundry," 1946, originally (1942) a proprietary name by Westinghouse for a type of automatic washing machine; from laundry + ending probably suggested by automat. Earlier words for public clothes-washing places in U.S. were washateria (1935), laundrette (1945). Launderette is from 1947. The Westinghouse machine was popular after World War II and was available with coin chutes and timers.

gurney (n.)

type of hospital cart, by 1921, of unknown origin. It also is a surname, and perhaps this use traces to the Gurney Ball Bearing Co. of Jamestown, N.Y., which was in active operation at the time but seems to have specialized in bearings for automobiles. Earliest use in hospital literature is in reference to carts for food and laundry.

lingerie (n.)

1835 (but not in widespread use until 1852), "linen underwear, especially as made for women," from French lingerie "linen goods, things made of linen," originally "laundry room, linen warehouse, linen shop, linen market" (15c.), also the name of a street in Paris, from linger "a dealer in linen goods," from Old French linge "linen" (12c.), from Latin lineus (adj.) "of linen," from linum "flax, linen" (see linen). Originally introduced in English as a euphemism for then-scandalous under-linen. Extension to articles of cotton or artificial material is unetymological.

rinse (v.)

c. 1300, rinsen, rincen, "subject to light washing; wash with water only" (originally in liturgy; from mid-13c. in surname Rinsfet), from Old French reincier (transitive) "to wash, cleanse" (12c., Modern French rincer), probably a dissimilation of recincier, from Vulgar Latin *recentiare "to make fresh, to wash, cleanse with water," from Late Latin recentare "to make fresh," from Latin recens "new, fresh" (see recent). OED says any similarity in form and sense with Old Norse hreinsa is "prob[ably] accidental."

In general use, of bowls, cups, etc., c. 1400; the meaning "wash (laundry) a second time to remove remaining impurities, soap, etc. that may have been left" is by c. 1500. Related: Rinsed; rinsing.

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