Etymologically
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toothbrush

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 21:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈtuːθ.bɹʌʃ/[1]
  • US: /ˈtuθ.bɹʌʃ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English tooth + brush.[2][3][4][5] Tooth is from Old English tōþ,[6][3] and brush is from Old French brosse, also broisse.[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small brush, usually with a long handle, for cleaning the teeth: Etymonline dates the word to the 1650s,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1645–55;[5] the OED's and Merriam-Webster's first record is from 1690, in the diary of the Oxford antiquary Anthony Wood.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed the same since the 17th century.[2][4] By 1892 a short, bristly moustache trimmed to a rectangle was called a toothbrush moustache: an American newspaper article on beards in the Senate that year spoke of "the toothbrush mustache of Senator Call, of Florida".[3][4] The toothbrush tree is a small tree of tropical Asia and Africa, Salvadora persica, whose twigs are chewed to clean the teeth.[4]

Timeline

  • 1650s – a brush for cleaning the teeth, according to Etymonline.[3][5]
  • 1690 – first OED quotation (Anthony Wood).[2][7]
  • 1892 – toothbrush mustache.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small brush with a long handle, used for cleaning the teeth.[8][7][2]
  2. toothbrush moustache: a short, bristly moustache trimmed to a rectangular shape.[4][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins