wipe | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

34 entries found.

Old English wipian "to wipe, cleanse," from Proto-Germanic *wipjan "to move back and forth" (source also of Danish vippe, Middle Dutch, Dutch vippen, Old High German wifan "to swing"), from PIE root *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble."

wipe (n.)

1640s, "act of wiping," from wipe (v.). From 1708 as "something used in wiping" (especially a handkerchief); 1971 as "disposable absorbent tissue."

wiper (n.)

1550s as a person, 1580s as a cloth, agent noun wipe (v.). From 1929 as short for windshield wiper.

wipeout (n.)

also wipe-out, 1962, American English, surfer slang, from wipe (v.) + out. Sense of "destruction, defeat, a killing" is recorded from 1968. Verbal phrase wipe out "destroy, obliterate" is from 1610s.

deterge (v.)

"to cleanse, clear away foul or offensive matter from," 1620s, from French déterger (16c.), from Latin detergere "to wipe away, cleanse," from de "off, away" (see de-) + tergere "to rub, polish, wipe," which is of uncertain origin. Related: Deterged; deterging.

whisk (v.)

late 15c., "move with a rapid sweeping motion" (intransitive), from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish viske "to wipe, rub, sponge," Norwegian, Swedish viska "wipe," also "wag the tail"), from the source of whisk (n.). Transitive sense is from 1510s; meaning "to brush or sweep (something) lightly over a surface" is from 1620s. Related: Whisked; whisking.

detergent (adj.)

"cleansing, purging," 1610s, from Latin detergentem (nominative detergens), present participle of detergere "to wipe away, cleanse," from de "off, away" (see de-) + tergere "to rub, polish, wipe," which is of uncertain origin. Originally a medical term.

smegma (n.)

sebaceous secretion, 1819, from Latin, from Greek smegma "a detergent, soap, unguent," from smekhein "to wipe off, wipe clean, cleanse," from PIE root *sme- "to smear" (source also of Czech smetana "cream," and see smear (v.)). So called from resemblance; a medical coinage, the word seems not to have been used in its literal Greek sense in English before this. Related: Smegmatic.

mop (v.)

"rub or wipe with or as with a mop," 1709 (in mop up), from mop (n.). Related: Mopped; mopping.

snite (v.)

"to blow or wipe the nose," c. 1100, now Scottish and dialectal, from Old English snytan, related to Old Norse snyta, Middle Dutch snuten, Old High German snuzen, German schneuzen "to blow one's nose," and to snot. Nose-sniting "blowing of the nose" is attested from early 15c.

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