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lash

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Pronunciation

lash1 to strike, whip

Etymology

The verb meaning to strike is inherited from Middle English lashen (“to deal a blow; to move violently”),[2][3][4] probably of imitative origin.[2][5][6][7][8] The OED calls the etymology difficult: an imitative origin is possible and is supported by the early, nearly synonymous lushen, like the pairs dash, flash and smash.[4][2] Weekley saw in it something of slash and of French lâcher (“to let go”) in the sense of letting fly.[9] The noun, first las (“a blow, stroke”) and later lashe, is probably from the verb.[10][11][4][3] The Century Dictionary, cited by Etymonline, took Irish lasg (“a lash, whip”) to be from English.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make a sudden movement, to dash; to deal a blow: about 1330, in Arthour and Merlin,[4][10] where the noun, a sudden blow, also first appears.[4]

Semantic evolution

The oldest senses were of swift, violent movement and of a blow in general.[4][2] Whipping came a little later: the noun is used of the flexible part of a whip about 1381, in Chaucer's Parlement of Foules,[4][10] and the verb "to flog" in 1398, in Trevisa.[4][10] Lash out, to strike out violently and originally of horses kicking, is recorded from 1567 and keeps the older sense.[4][11] Shakespeare used the verb for rebuking or satirizing,[4] and Johnson (1755) defined the noun as a stroke with anything pliant and tough.[12] From 1694 the lash was the punishment of flogging,[4][11] and since 1796 the word has also been short for eyelash.[4] Australian and New Zealand English has have a lash, to have a try, from 1941.[4][13] In Scots and northern dialects a lash was also a heavy fall of rain.[14]

Timeline

  • c. 1330 – verb, to make a sudden movement; to strike; noun, a sudden blow.[4][10]
  • c. 1381 – noun, the flexible part of a whip.[4][10]
  • 1398 – verb, to flog, beat with a lash.[4][10]
  • 1567 – lash out, to strike out violently.[4][11]
  • before 1616 – verb, to rebuke or satirize (Shakespeare).[4]
  • 1694 – the lash, punishment by flogging; of waves, to beat on the shore.[4]
  • 1796 – an eyelash.[4]
  • 1941 – have a lash, to make an attempt (Australia and New Zealand).[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A blow with a whip or other flexible object: The prisoner was sentenced to ten lashes.[13][3][15][4]
  2. The flexible part of a whip, especially the cord at its end.[13][3][15][4]
  3. the lash: punishment by flogging.[3][4]
  4. Something that hurts like a whip, such as harsh criticism: the lash of her tongue.[13][15]
  5. The forceful beating of wind, rain or waves.[13][4]
  6. An eyelash.[13][4][5]
  7. have a lash (Australia and New Zealand, informal): to make an attempt at something.[13][4]

Verb

  1. To strike with a whip or the like; to flog.[13][3][4]
  2. Of wind, rain or waves, to beat forcefully against something: Hail lashed the windows all night.[3][4]
  3. To move suddenly or violently; to dash.[3][4]
  4. lash out: to strike out violently, or to attack with words.[3][4][11]
  5. To criticize or rebuke harshly.[4][15]

Word family

  • lasher
  • lashingly
  • lashless
  • whiplash
  • backlash
  • tongue-lash
  • outlash
  • eyelash

lash2 to bind with a rope

Etymology

The verb meaning to bind is inherited from Middle English lasschen (“to lace”),[3][10][7] probably borrowed from Old French lachier, a dialectal variant of lacier (“to lace, fasten”),[10][4][11][3][9] the source of lace.[11][7] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from the second quarter of the 12th century, already meant to bind, tie and lace on.[16] The French verb goes back to Latin laqueus (“noose, snare”).[17][13] The OED also allows a derivation from an English noun lash, a string or cord, and notes similar words in Dutch and German;[4] Hoad, the Shorter Oxford and Dictionary.com prefer a Low German or Dutch source, comparing Middle Dutch lasche (“rag, patch, gusset”) and Dutch laschen (“to patch, sew together”).[8][5][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lace a garment: about 1440, in the Promptorium Parvulorum.[4][10]

Semantic evolution

The sense "to lace a garment" lasted until the early 17th century.[4][5] The modern sense, to fasten with a rope or cord, is first recorded in 1624, in John Smith's Generall Historie of Virginia, and was originally nautical.[4][10][11][3] Weekley notes that lace itself had earlier been used in this nautical sense.[9] The noun lashing, a cord used for binding, followed in 1669.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1440 – to lace a garment (obsolete by 1611).[4][10]
  • 1624 – to fasten with a rope or cord, chiefly at sea.[4][10][3]
  • 1669 – lashing, a cord used for binding.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tie or fasten with a rope, cord or chain: The crew lashed the barrels to the deck.[3][4][5]
  2. (obsolete, 1440–1611) To lace a garment.[4][5]

Word family

  • unlash
  • lashing

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ 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 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  15. ^ a b c d e Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  16. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  17. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt