laundry English · revision 10329

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=late 14th century|origins=fro lavanderie|origins=la lavare}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlɔːn.dɹi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a contraction of Middle English lavendrie (late 13th century),^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) [[bor|fro|lavanderie|t=wash-house]],^(Etymonline) from Vulgar Latin *lavandaria, things to be washed,^(Etymonline) from Latin lavāre, to wash.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster instead derives it from the obsolete launder, a launderer, with the suffix -y.^(MWU 2024) See [[launder]].^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A place for washing: the late 14th century in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) the act of washing, the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) before 1530 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ An establishment where linen is washed and got up is from 1577,^(OED 1989) and the articles that need washing, or have been washed, from 1916.^(OED 1989) It was used blunderingly for laundress in 1598.^(OED 1989) The verb, to launder, is from 1880.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A figurative laundry, where things are disguised or altered, as money, is from 1965.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 13th century – lavendrie.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – a place for washing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1577 – a laundry establishment.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1880 – the verb.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1916 – clothes to be washed.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1965 – a laundry for money (figurative).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Clothes and linen that need washing or have just been washed.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A business that washes and irons clothes and linen.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A room or area where washing is done.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The act of laundering.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[laundryman]]

+ * [[laundrywoman]]

+ * [[dirty laundry]]

+ * [[laundry list]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[launder]]

+ * [[laundress]]

+ * [[lavatory]]

+ * [[lave]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}