launder

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English launder, also lander,^[2][3] a contraction of lavender (“a washer of linen”),^{[4][5][6][7][8]} borrowed from Old French lavandier (“male launderer”) and lavandiere (“laundress”).^[6][2][5] The Anglo-Norman form lavendere is recorded from 1194–99.^[9] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged trace the French words to Medieval Latin lavandārius and lavandāria (“female launderer”),^[6][2] and the American Heritage Dictionary to Vulgar Latin *lavandārius, from a Latin word for things to be washed.^[10] They go back to Latin lavanda (“things to be washed”),^[6][10][8] a form of lavō (“to wash”),^[6][10][8] from Proto-Indo-European *leue- (“to wash”).^[5] The verb is a conversion of the noun.^[4][7][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person of either sex who washes linen: before 1350, in a legend of Saint Brice.^[4] Barnhart and Etymonline date the contracted noun only to 1440 and the mid 15th century,^[6][5] and Barnhart finds the full form lavender about 1325 and the surname Lavendre in 1227.^[6] Chaucer's Legend of Good Women has lavender for a laundress.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The noun for the person lasted until 1603 in the OED,^[4] and Tusser (1580), quoted in the English Dialect Dictionary, warns that "launders and millers be quick of their toll".^[12] Barnhart records laundress from 1550 and the noun laundry, for the act of washing, from before 1450.^[6] From the mid 17th century the noun was used for a trough, especially one for washing ore in mining,^[7][4] and Klein treats this "conduit" as coming from the sense of one who washes.^[3] It was used in dialect from Northumberland to Cornwall for a gutter or spout,^[12] and in metallurgy from 1900 for a channel carrying molten metal.^[4] The verb came from the noun: the OED lists it from 1609, the Shorter Oxford from the late 16th century, and Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged first find it in Butler's Hudibras (1664).^[4][7][6][2] Jonson's Alchemist has "laund'ring gold" for sweating gold plate, the OED's only record of that sense.^[13][4] In the 20th century the word took two more steps: fabric could launder well from 1908,^[4] and something could be "laundered" to make it acceptable by 1961.^[4] The money sense, cleaning "dirty" funds through legitimate businesses or foreign accounts,^[6][13][7] is from 1969 in the OED and 1970 in Barnhart.^[4][6] Etymonline has it by 1961 and credits its wide spread to the Watergate scandal of 1973,^[5] and Cresswell likewise links money laundering with Watergate.^[14]

Timeline

• before 1350 – noun, a person who washes linen (obsolete by 1603).^[4]
• 1609 – verb, to wash and prepare linen.^[4] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged first record it in 1664, in Butler's Hudibras.^[6][2]
• 1612 – verb, to sweat gold or plate (obsolete), in Jonson's Alchemist.^[4] Green's Dictionary of Slang dates the play to 1610.^[13]
• mid 17th century – noun, a trough for water, especially for washing ore; a gutter.^[7]
• 1900 – noun, in metallurgy, a channel for molten metal.^[4][7]
• 1908 – verb, intransitive, of a fabric, to bear washing.^[4][7]
• before 1961 – verb, figurative, to treat something so as to make it acceptable.^[4]
• 1969 – verb, to pass illegally gained money through other accounts so that it seems legitimate.^[4] Barnhart dates it to 1970, and Etymonline by 1961.^[6][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wash and often iron clothes or linen: He laundered his only good shirt in the sink.^[15][2][4]
2. Of a fabric, to bear washing without damage: This cotton launders well.^[15][4][7]
3. To pass money gained illegally through a legitimate business or foreign bank accounts so that its source is hidden.^[15][4][7]
4. To clean something of dirt or impurities: a filter that launders the air.^[2]
5. To alter something so as to make it seem acceptable, often without scruple; to purify it of objectionable matter.^[2][4][7]

Noun

1. A trough or conduit for water, especially one used for washing ore in mining.^[15][2][4]
2. A channel for carrying molten metal from a furnace.^[2][4][7]
3. (dialect) A rainwater gutter.^[12][4][7]
4. (obsolete, before 1350–1603) A person who washes linen.^[4][7][12]

Word family

• launderer
• launderable
• launderability
• unlaundered
• relaunder

Related words

• launderette
• laundress
• laundry
• lave
• lavatory
• lotion
• lava
• lavish

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d 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)
13. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins