Etymologically
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splash

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /splæʃ/[1]

Etymology

It is probably an alteration of plash, with an initial s felt as intensive,[2][3][4][5] plash itself probably being imitative.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To dabble about in water: 1715, in Matthew Prior, in Barnhart and Etymonline;[2][3] transitively, to spatter, from 1722.[3]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a quantity of liquid dashed about, is from 1736.[2][6] A striking display, as to make a splash, is by 1804,[3][6] and a patch of colour or light by 1832.[3] Splashy, sensational, is from 1836.[2] A dash of soda water added to a drink, and a prominent newspaper headline or story, are both by 1922.[3][6] The splash-board of a vehicle is from 1826,[3] and the splashdown of a spacecraft American English from 1961.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1715 – to splash (verb).[2]
  • 1736 – a splash (noun).[2][6]
  • 1804 – make a splash.[3][6]
  • 1922 – a splash in a drink; a newspaper splash.[6]
  • 1961 – splashdown.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To make liquid scatter in drops, or to wet or mark with scattered liquid.
  2. To move through water so that it scatters.
  3. To display prominently, as a story in a newspaper.

Noun

  1. The act or sound of splashing; a mark made by splashed liquid.
  2. A small amount of a liquid: a splash of milk.
  3. A striking impression or stir: make a splash.

Word family

  • splasher
  • splashingly
  • splashboard
  • splashdown
  • splashguard
  • backsplash
  • unsplashed
  • splosh
  • plash
  • splatter

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press