splash English · revision 15483

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1715}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /splæʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably an alteration of [[plash]], with an initial s felt as intensive,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) plash itself probably being imitative.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To dabble about in water: 1715, in Matthew Prior, in Barnhart and Etymonline;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) transitively, to spatter, from 1722.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, a quantity of liquid dashed about, is from 1736.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) A striking display, as ''to make a splash'', is by 1804,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a patch of colour or light by 1832.^(Etymonline) Splashy, sensational, is from 1836.^(Barnhart 1988) A dash of soda water added to a drink, and a prominent newspaper headline or story, are both by 1922.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The splash-board of a vehicle is from 1826,^(Etymonline) and the splashdown of a spacecraft American English from 1961.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1715 – to splash (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1736 – a splash (noun).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1804 – make a splash.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1922 – a splash in a drink; a newspaper splash.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1961 – splashdown.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make liquid scatter in drops, or to wet or mark with scattered liquid.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move through water so that it scatters.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To display prominently, as a story in a newspaper.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act or sound of splashing; a mark made by splashed liquid.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A small amount of a liquid: ''a splash of milk''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A striking impression or stir: ''make a splash''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[splasher]]

+ * [[splashingly]]

+ * [[splashboard]]

+ * [[splashdown]]

+ * [[splashguard]]

+ * [[backsplash]]

+ * [[unsplashed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[splosh]]

+ * [[plash]]

+ * [[splatter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}