Lave
/leɪv/noun
To wash or bathe something, especially with water.
Did you know?Lave is an old poetic and literary verb, but it’s not the source of the word *lavatory*; that one comes from Latin *lavāre* “to wash,” a different but closely related branch of the same ancient root.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*lewh₁-
“to wash, bathe”
Latin
Latin
lavāre
“to wash”
Old French
Old French
laver
“to wash”
Middle English
English
laven
“to wash, bathe”
Modern English
English
lave
“to wash or bathe”