lather

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a frothy foam produced by soap and water

   He worked the soap into a thick lather before shaving.

Simplified etymology

Lather comes from Old English læthor, meaning “washing soda” or the froth it produced. It is Germanic, related to Old Norse lauthr, and ultimately belongs to an Indo-European family that also includes Greek loutron, “bath.” The figurative sense “agitation” dates from the early 19th century.

From Old English lēaþor ('washing soda, foam'), from Proto-Germanic *lauþrą, from the Proto-Indo-European root *lowh₃- ('to wash').

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary