aqua

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English aqua, borrowed from Latin aqua (“water; the sea; rain”),^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *akwa- (“water”).^[3][2] Partridge compares Gothic 𐌰𐍈𐌰 (aƕa, “river”) and Old High German aha (“river”).^[6] As the name of a colour it is a shortening of aquamarine,^[4][7][8] itself from aqua marina (“sea water”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Water, liquid or solution, used in the names of preparations in pharmacy and chemistry: before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.^[4] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In late Middle English the Latin word was used in old chemistry and alchemy for a decoction or solution,^[3] as in aqua regia, "royal water", named for its power to dissolve gold,^[3][6] aqua fortis and aqua vitae.^[3][4] Johnson (1755) described it as a word for water much used in chemical writings.^[9] In 19th-century slang aqua was simply water, recorded from 1843.^[10] The colour name, a light greenish blue, is first recorded in 1936, in an advertisement in the New Yorker.^[4][3] In 20th-century chemistry aqua also names the water molecule as a ligand.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1398 – in names of chemical and pharmaceutical solutions.^[4]
• 1843 – slang, water.^[10]
• 1936 – a light greenish-blue colour.^[4][3]
• mid 20th century – the water molecule as a ligand, in chemistry.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A light greenish-blue colour; aquamarine.^[11][12][4]
2. (chemistry, pharmacy) Water, or a solution in water, used in the names of liquids such as aqua regia.^[11][12][4]

Adjective

1. Of a light greenish-blue colour: an aqua swimsuit.^[11][12]

Word family

• aquacade
• aquaculture
• aquamarine
• aquanaut
• aquaplane
• aqueous
• aquiculture

Related words

• aqua fortis
• aqua regia
• aquatic
• aqueduct
• aquarium
• ewer
• aqua vitae

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster