Etymologically
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powder

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpaʊ.də(ɹ)/ (UK); /ˈpaʊ.dɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English poudre, borrowed from Old French poudre (“dust, powder, ashes”), earlier pouldre,[2][3][4] from Latin pulvis (“dust, powder”) (genitive pulveris; see pulverize and pollen).[2][3][5] The -d- is an unetymological insertion common in French,[3] and German has both Puder, through French, and Pulver, from Latin.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Solid matter in fine particles, dust, ashes: about 1290 in the OED,[6] about 1300 in Etymonline,[3] probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin, in Barnhart;[2] Poudre is a surname from 1260.[2]

Semantic evolution

Medicinal powder is from 1340,[2][6] and gunpowder from about 1380.[2][3] Powdered spice or salt for seasoning is from the 14th century,[6][4] and cosmetic powder from the 1570s.[3][6] The verb, to sprinkle powder on or season, is from before 1300, and to make into powder from before 1400.[2][3] The powder horn is from 1533,[2] the powder monkey, a boy who carried gunpowder to a ship's guns, from the 1680s,[3] and the powder room, at first a room for storing gunpowder on a ship (1627), a women's lavatory by 1936–41.[2][3] The figurative powder keg is from 1893–95.[2][3] Word Origins notes that keep your powder dry, attributed to Cromwell, first appears in a 19th-century Irish ballad.[5] Take a powder, to leave quickly, is from 1920.[3] Fresh loose snow for skiing is powder from 1948.[6][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1290 – dust; fine particles.[6]
  • 1340 – medicinal powder.[2][6]
  • c. 1380 – gunpowder.[2]
  • 1570s – cosmetic powder.[3]
  • 1893 – powder keg, figuratively.[2]
  • 1920 – take a powder.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A substance in the form of fine dry particles.
  2. A preparation in this form, such as face powder, soap powder or a medicinal powder.
  3. Gunpowder.
  4. Fresh, loose snow.

Verb

  1. To reduce to powder; to pulverize.
  2. To sprinkle or cover with powder.

Word family

  • powderer
  • powderless
  • powderlike
  • powderman
  • gunpowder
  • bleaching powder
  • chili powder
  • Dover's powder
  • pulverize
  • pollen
  • powdery

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins