lather
nounEtymology
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 loathar (“wash-basin”), Ancient Greek λουτρόν (loutrón, “a bath, wash-room”), Latin lavō (“to wash”), Albanian laj (“to wash”), Ancient Greek λούω (loúō). More at lye.
Definitions
The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water.
- Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.
Foam from profuse sweating, as of a horse.
A state of agitation.
›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer
To cover with lather.
- I lathered my body with lavender-scented soap.
To beat or whip.
To form lather or froth, as a horse does when profusely sweating.
- I woke Corporal Honda to see to the horse. Heavily lathered and breathing hard, it had obviously come a long way at high speed.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for lather. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA