Etymologically
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douche

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is borrowed from French douche (“shower”), recorded in Middle French as doulche in the late 16th century,[2][3] from Italian doccia (“conduit pipe; shower”).[2][3][4][5][6] The Italian word is dated to the 13th century in the sense "conduit pipe".[2] Several dictionaries derive it from docciare (“to spray, pour by drops”),[3][4][5] Merriam-Webster the verb from the noun.[7] The OED calls the origin uncertain, perhaps doccione (“tube, pipe”), with its ending taken for the augmentative suffix -one;[2][8] doccione is traced to Latin ductiō (“a leading, conveying”), from ductus, the past participle of dūcō (“to lead”),[9][4][7][6] from Proto-Indo-European *deuk- (“to lead”).[3][9] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford take docciare from a Romance verb based on ductus, the source of duct.[5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The application of a jet of water, air or steam to the body, especially in medicine: 1739, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.[2] Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date it to 1766,[3][4][7] and Dictionary.com to 1675–85.[8]

Semantic evolution

The French word had meant a shower; it was applied to a jet of water directed at a bodily cavity by 1804.[2] In English the application to a body cavity is recorded from 1824, and to vaginal cleansing, originally chiefly in the United States, from 1849;[2] Etymonline dates the vaginal sense to 1833.[3] From 1827 the word also named the instrument, now especially a douchebag.[2] A figurative douche was something with a sobering or chastening effect (from 1845).[2][7] The verb is recorded from 1772, perhaps after German duschen or French doucher (1762);[2] Etymonline and Barnhart date it to 1838.[3][4] In American slang douche, short for douchebag, has meant a stupid or contemptible person since 1968,[2][11] and teenagers' take a douche! meant "get lost" in 1967.[12]

Timeline

  • 1739 – application of a jet of water to the body.[2]
  • 1766 – first date in Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster.[3][4][7]
  • 1772 – verb, to apply a douche to.[2]
  • 1824 – a jet of water into a bodily cavity.[2]
  • 1827 – an instrument for giving douches.[2]
  • 1845 – figurative, something with a sobering effect.[2]
  • 1849 – vaginal douche.[2]
  • 1864 – verb, to drench, in Carlyle.[2]
  • 1968 – slang, a contemptible person.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A jet of water or other fluid directed onto a part of the body or into a body cavity, for cleansing or medical treatment.[11][7][2]
  2. The application of such a jet, especially to cleanse the vagina.[11][2]
  3. An instrument, such as a syringe, for applying a douche.[11][7][2]
  4. (British) A sudden, often sobering shock: Her reply was a cold douche to his hopes.[7][2]
  5. (slang) A stupid or contemptible person.[11][2]

Verb

  1. To cleanse or treat with a douche, or to use a douche.[11][7][2]
  2. To drench with liquid.[7][2]

Word family

  • undouched

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com