wipe English · revision 10470

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 960|origins=gem-pro *wīpijaną|origins=ine-pro *weyp-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /waɪp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English wipen, [[inh|ang|wīpian|t=to wipe, cleanse]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Proto-Germanic *wipjan, to move back and forth,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) source also of Danish vippe and Old High German wīfan, to swing,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from PIE *weip-, to turn, vacillate, tremble,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which also gave Latin vibrāre, to shake (see [[vibrate]]).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To rub clean or dry: about 960.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figurative uses are from the 13th century.^(Hoad 1986) The noun, a slashing blow or cutting remark, is from the 16th century (1550),^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989) and an act of wiping from the 1640s (1550 in Barnhart).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Something used for wiping is from 1708, especially slang for a handkerchief,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a disposable absorbent tissue from 1971.^(Etymonline) To erase a magnetic recording is by 1900.^(Etymonline) In film and television a wipe, one picture seeming to be wiped off by another, is from 1933.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 960 – to wipe.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1550 – a blow (noun).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1642 – an act of wiping.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1708 – a handkerchief (slang).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1933 – a screen wipe.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1971 – a disposable tissue.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To rub something lightly with a cloth, paper or hand in order to clean or dry it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To remove by rubbing: ''wipe the dirt off''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To erase a recording, data or a memory.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To spread a substance, such as oil, by wiping.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of wiping.^(AHD)

+ # A disposable cloth or tissue for wiping.^(AHD)

+ # A transition in a film in which one scene seems to wipe away another.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[wipeout]]

+ * [[wiper]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[whip]]

+ * [[vibrate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Somerset and Devon dialect, a wipe was a bundle of brushwood used in draining.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}