toothpaste

Etymology

It is formed from English tooth + paste.^[2][3][4] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism.^[3] Compare the similar compounds Dutch tandpasta and German Zahnpasta.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A paste for cleaning the teeth: 1832, in an advertisement in the American Railroad Journal.^[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

Earlier substances for cleaning the teeth were called tooth powder, from the 1540s, and tooth-soap, from about 1600.^[2] The OED notes the frequent attributive use in toothpaste tube, and the figurative phrase to put the toothpaste back in the tube, to undo something that cannot be undone.^[5][4]

Timeline

• 1540s – tooth-powder, an earlier word for a tooth cleaner.^[2]
• 1832 – toothpaste, in an American advertisement.^[5][2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A paste for cleaning the teeth, put on a toothbrush: a tube of mint toothpaste.^[7][6][8][5]
2. put the toothpaste back in the tube: to undo something that cannot be undone.^[5][4]

Related words

• tooth
• paste
• toothbrush

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt