Etymologically
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dashboard

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈdæʃˌbɔːd/[1]
  • US: /ˈdæʃˌboɹd/, /ˈdæʃˌbɔɹd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English dash + board,[2][3][4][5][6][7] from the verb dash in the sense of splashing or striking: the board kept mud from being "dashed" into the vehicle.[2][8] The verb is probably from a Scandinavian source, perhaps imitative;[2] Etymonline compares Swedish daska and Danish daske (“to beat, strike”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A board or leather apron at the front of a carriage that stopped the horses' hooves from splashing mud inside: 1847, in an annual report of the Commissioner of Patents.[3][2] Merriam-Webster dates the sense to 1842, Etymonline to 1846 and Dictionary.com to 1840–50.[5][2][7]

Semantic evolution

The OED also records movable side pieces of a cart that served the same purpose,[3][8] and other boards against splashing: the spray-board of a paddle-wheel, a board used in calico printing (1860), and, in architecture, a sloping board that carries rainwater off a wall (1881).[3][4] In motor cars the name passed by 1904 to the panel below the windscreen that carries the instruments and controls, and then to aircraft;[3][2][8] Etymonline remarks that, apart from its place in front of the driver, it has nothing in common with the original.[2] In computing, from 1990, a dashboard is a screen that summarizes various kinds of information, typically about a business or organization.[3] Other uses were local: an unexplained combination of numbers in American numbers betting (1879),[9] the feet in American slang (1915), and among Pacific Northwest loggers a farmer who works part time in the woods, after the bib overalls such men wore (1958).[10]

Timeline

  • 1847 – a board or leather apron in front of a carriage to keep out mud.[3] Merriam-Webster dates the sense to 1842 and Etymonline to 1846.[5][2]
  • 1860 – a board used in calico printing.[3]
  • 1879 – in American numbers betting, a combination of numbers.[9]
  • 1881 – in architecture, a sloping board carrying rainwater off a wall.[3][4]
  • 1904 – the instrument panel of a motor car, later also of an aircraft.[3][2]
  • 1915 – in American slang, the feet.[10]
  • 1990 – in computing, a screen summarizing information.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The panel below the windscreen of a car or the front of an aircraft cockpit, holding the gauges, dials and controls: She left her sunglasses on the dashboard.[5][3][4]
  2. (computing) A screen or display giving a graphical summary of various kinds of information, such as the performance of a business.[3]
  3. A screen of wood or leather at the front of a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh to stop mud or water thrown up by the horses.[5][3][4]
  4. (architecture) A sloping board that carries rainwater off the face of a wall.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ a b Cassidy, Frederic G. & Joan Houston Hall (eds.) (1985–2002), Dictionary of American Regional English, vols I–IV, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press