Etymologically
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bathtub

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈbɑːθtʌb/[1]
  • US: /ˈbæθtʌb/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English bath + tub.[2][3][4] The OED compares the earlier bathing-tub.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large, long tub to be filled with water so that a person can get in and wash: the OED's first record is in G. Chapman's translation of Homer's Odyssey, about 1614.[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED's definition adds that the tub is now usually connected to the plumbing.[2] The other dictionaries date the word only from the 19th century: Merriam-Webster gives 1821 as its first known use,[5] Dictionary.com 1825–35,[4] the Collegiate 1836[6] and Etymonline 1837, when it was used especially of a tub fixed in a bathroom.[3] In the Prohibition era bathtub gin is recorded by 1928,[3] and Green's Dictionary of Slang has bathtub hooch or bathtub gin for illicitly distilled alcohol, named after the place where it was made, from 1930.[7] American slang used bathtub for an open touring car with two cross seats (1954) and for a motorcycle sidecar (1960).[8] The bathtub ring is the dirty mark left at the water level inside a bath after it has been drained.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1614 – a large tub for bathing, in Chapman's Odyssey.[2]
  • 1821 – first known use according to Merriam-Webster.[5]
  • 1837 – a tub to bathe in, especially one fixed in a bathroom.[3]
  • 1928 – bathtub gin.[3]
  • 1930 – bathtub hooch, illicit alcohol.[7]
  • 1954 – American slang, an open touring car.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A large tub for taking a bath, usually fixed in a bathroom and connected to the water supply: He filled the bathtub with hot water.[10][5][2]
  2. A sitzmark.[5]

Word family

  • bathtub gin

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  8. ^ a b Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
  9. ^ Tréguer, Pascal, Word Histories, wordhistories.net, p. "‘bathtub ring’: meaning and origin", 4 April 2024
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin