Afrikaans was | ||
Albanian larë | ||
Amharic ታጠብ | ||
Arabic غسل | ||
Armenian լվանալ | ||
Assamese ধুৱা | ||
Aymara jariña | ||
Azerbaijani yumaq | ||
Bambara ka ko | ||
Basque garbitu | ||
Belarusian памыцца | ||
Bengali ধুয়ে ফেলুন | ||
Bhojpuri धुलाई | ||
Bosnian oprati | ||
Bulgarian мия | ||
Catalan rentar | ||
Cebuano hugasan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 洗 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 洗 | ||
Corsican lavà | ||
Croatian pranje | ||
Czech umýt | ||
Danish vask | ||
Dhivehi ދޮތުން | ||
Dogri धोना | ||
Dutch wassen | ||
English wash | ||
Esperanto lavi | ||
Estonian pesta | ||
Ewe nya nu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) maghugas | ||
Finnish pestä | ||
French laver | ||
Frisian waskje | ||
Galician lavar | ||
Georgian სარეცხი | ||
German waschen | ||
Greek πλύση | ||
Guarani johéi | ||
Gujarati ધોવું | ||
Haitian Creole lave | ||
Hausa wanka | ||
Hawaiian holoi | ||
Hebrew לִשְׁטוֹף | ||
Hindi धुलाई | ||
Hmong ntxuav | ||
Hungarian mosás | ||
Icelandic þvo | ||
Igbo saa | ||
Ilocano bugguan | ||
Indonesian mencuci | ||
Irish nigh | ||
Italian lavaggio | ||
Japanese 洗う | ||
Javanese ngumbah | ||
Kannada ತೊಳೆಯಿರಿ | ||
Kazakh жуу | ||
Khmer លាង | ||
Kinyarwanda gukaraba | ||
Konkani धुंवप | ||
Korean 빨래 | ||
Krio was | ||
Kurdish cil | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) شوشتن | ||
Kyrgyz жуу | ||
Lao ລ້າງ | ||
Latin lava | ||
Latvian mazgāt | ||
Lingala kosokola | ||
Lithuanian plauti | ||
Luganda -yoza | ||
Luxembourgish wäschen | ||
Macedonian мијат | ||
Maithili धोनाइ | ||
Malagasy sasao madio | ||
Malay basuh | ||
Malayalam കഴുകുക | ||
Maltese aħsel | ||
Maori horoi | ||
Marathi धुवा | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯆꯥꯝꯊꯣꯛꯄ | ||
Mizo su | ||
Mongolian угаах | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အဝတ်လျှော် | ||
Nepali धुनु | ||
Norwegian vask | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kusamba | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଧୋଇ ଦିଅ | | ||
Oromo dhiquu | ||
Pashto مينځل | ||
Persian شستشو | ||
Polish myć się | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) lavar | ||
Punjabi ਧੋਵੋ | ||
Quechua taqsay | ||
Romanian spalare | ||
Russian мыть | ||
Samoan mulumulu | ||
Sanskrit प्रधाव् | ||
Scots Gaelic nigh | ||
Sepedi hlatswa | ||
Serbian опрати | ||
Sesotho hlatsoa | ||
Shona geza | ||
Sindhi ڌوئڻ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) සේදීම | ||
Slovak umyť | ||
Slovenian pranje | ||
Somali dhaq | ||
Spanish lavar | ||
Sundanese nyeuseuh | ||
Swahili osha | ||
Swedish tvätta | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) maghugas | ||
Tajik шустан | ||
Tamil கழுவுதல் | ||
Tatar юу | ||
Telugu కడగడం | ||
Thai ล้าง | ||
Tigrinya ምሕጻብ | ||
Tsonga hlantswa | ||
Turkish yıkama | ||
Turkmen ýuw | ||
Twi (Akan) horo | ||
Ukrainian мити | ||
Urdu دھونا | ||
Uyghur يۇيۇش | ||
Uzbek yuvish | ||
Vietnamese rửa | ||
Welsh golch | ||
Xhosa hlamba | ||
Yiddish וואַשן | ||
Yoruba wẹ | ||
Zulu geza |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "was" can also mean "wet" or "moist". |
| Albanian | The word "larë" is also used figuratively to mean "to cleanse"} |
| Amharic | The word "ታጠብ" can also mean "to anoint" or "to purify". |
| Arabic | The verb "غسل" is used with several meanings, most of which are religious, such as the ritual cleansing before prayers and the washing of the body after death, but it is also used in contexts like "غسل اليدين" which means "washing the hands". |
| Armenian | The verb |
| Azerbaijani | The word "yumaq" is also used to refer to a large, round ball of thread or yarn. |
| Basque | The word |
| Belarusian | The word "памыцца" shares its origin with the word "мыло" ("soap") and the verb "мыть" ("wash"). |
| Bengali | ধুয়ে ফেলুন can also mean to remove or get rid of something completely. |
| Bosnian | The verb 'oprati' shares its etymological root with 'apr' (water) in Old Church Slavonic. |
| Bulgarian | The word "мия" (wash) is related to the words "мея" (to clean) and "мило" (soap), suggesting a semantic connection between washing, cleaning, and using soap. |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "rentar" is derived from the Latin word "rendere," which means "to return" or "to give back." |
| Cebuano | Hugasan may also mean a place where dishes are cleaned. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The character 洗 can also mean 'cleanse, purify, rinse, or baptize'. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 洗 (洗潔 or 洗滌) can also mean "to purify" or "to cleanse". |
| Corsican | The word "lavà" in Corsican derives from the Latin word "lavare" and also means "to launder". |
| Croatian | The Slavic verb "pranje" (to wash) is related to the English word "prayer" and suggests purification. |
| Czech | "Umýt" (to wash) can also mean "to launder" or "to clean" in Czech. |
| Danish | The word "vask" also means "sink" in Danish. |
| Dutch | Wassen also means 'grow' in Dutch, related to 'wax' in English. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "lavi" shares its root with the Latin word "lavare" and the English word "lave". |
| Estonian | The etymological root of the word "pesta" is from the Proto-Uralic root * pesta-. |
| Finnish | The word "pestä" in Finnish is derived from the Proto-Uralic verb *pestä, meaning "to wet, moisten, or bathe". |
| French | The French word "laver" originally meant "to wash" but now also refers to a sink or washbasin. |
| Frisian | While the Frisian word "waskje" most commonly means "to wash", it can also refer to the act of rinsing or cleaning. |
| Galician | "Lavar" can also refer to a type of seaweed or to a very heavy rainfall. |
| Georgian | The word "სარეცხი" can also refer to a place where clothes are washed, such as a laundry room or a riverbank. |
| German | In Old High German, |
| Greek | The word "πλύση" (wash) derives from the verb "πλύνω" (to wash), which is cognate with the Sanskrit word "plu" (to bathe). |
| Gujarati | As a noun, Gujarati ''ધોવું'' can also mean washing, clothes, laundry, cleansing, cleansing, laundering, cleansing, cleansing, scrubbing, or scouring. |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word "lave" can also mean "to clean" or "to scrub". |
| Hausa | The term "wanka" originates from the Gwari language and is used in Hausa to describe the process of washing objects or clothes. |
| Hawaiian | The term is also used in a metaphorical sense, such as to describe the cleansing of sorrow, or as an honorific in the names of certain chiefs or high priests, e.g. Holokūhewa and Holoʻiʻi. |
| Hebrew | The word "לִשְׁטוֹף" also has the secondary meaning of to clean or rinse. |
| Hindi | धुलाई is also used to mean 'dry cleaning', especially of suits or other formal garments in Hindi. |
| Hmong | The Hmong term |
| Hungarian | The word "mosás" also means "laundry" in Hungarian, which refers to the process of washing clothes. |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "þvo" is cognate with the English word "thaw", both deriving from the Proto-Germanic word *þwahaną. |
| Igbo | In the Igbo language, the word "saa" carries additional meanings beyond washing, such as cleansing, purification, and even forgiveness. |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word "mencuci" is a homophone for both the verb "to wash" and the noun for "laundry." |
| Irish | The Irish word 'nigh' can also mean 'to wash one's hands' or 'to purify oneself'. |
| Italian | The word "lavaggio" (wash) derives from the Latin root "lavare" (to bathe) and has the same root as the English word "lavatory". |
| Japanese | The on'yomi reading of 洗う, "sen,'' can also mean to dye (布を染める) something or to develop (写真を現像する) something, like a photo. |
| Javanese | "Ngumbah" is a term used throughout the Javanese-speaking region and is cognate with the Indonesian "mencuci". |
| Kannada | The word "ತೊಳೆಯಿರಿ" can also mean to cleanse, to purify, or to remove impurities. |
| Kazakh | The verb "жуу" can also mean "to rinse" or "to launder". |
| Khmer | The word លាង comes from Proto-Austronesian word *laŋəŋ which means both "to wash or bathe" as well as "to flow". |
| Korean | 빨래 in Korean is not only used to refer to the process of cleaning clothes but also to the items that are being washed, such as laundry or clothes. |
| Kurdish | Kurdish "cil" derives from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰel-. |
| Kyrgyz | In Kyrgyzstan, the word "жуу" is used not only to describe "washing" something, but also to denote a traditional ritual cleansing. |
| Lao | "ລ້າງ" can also refer to rinsing, cleansing, or clearing something. |
| Latin | The Latin word "lava" also refers to a torrent of water or a heavy rainfall. |
| Latvian | The word "mazgāt" in Latvian is related to other Baltic words like Lithuanian "mazgoti" and Prussian "masgan", all referring to the act of cleansing. |
| Lithuanian | The noun "plauti" is of Slavic origin and also denotes the act of bathing, while its verb form means "to rinse". |
| Luxembourgish | The verb "wäschen" could be rooted in the Old High German word "wascan" and originally meant "rub, press". |
| Macedonian | The Slavic root |
| Malay | The word 'basuh' is derived from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian word *basu, meaning to bathe or cleanse. |
| Malayalam | "കഴുകുക" may also mean "to scrape" or "to pluck off" in Malayalam. |
| Maltese | The root word "ħasil" is of Arabic origin, meaning "wash" or "to wash". |
| Maori | Horoi is also a term for removing tapu (sacredness) through the process of sprinkling water. |
| Marathi | The word "धुवा" in Marathi can also refer to the act of rubbing or polishing something. |
| Mongolian | No extra information about the etymology or alternate meanings of "угаах" was found. |
| Nepali | The word "धुनु" is derived from the Sanskrit word "धाव", meaning "to flow" or "to run". |
| Norwegian | The word "vaske" also means "to clean" in Norwegian. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Kusamba, meaning 'wash' in Nyanja, can also mean 'cleanse' or 'purify' in a broader sense. |
| Pashto | The term "مينځل" is often used in Pashto with its literal meaning of "wash", but in certain contexts, it can carry alternate meanings such as "to purify" or "to rinse". |
| Persian | The Persian word "شستشو" (wash) originates from the Middle Persian "šust" (to wash), which in turn comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "*skeu-" (to clean). |
| Polish | The Polish word "myć się" is cognate with the English word "moist" and can also mean "to wet" or "to freshen up." |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portugal, "lavar" can also mean to "clean", especially in the context of cleaning wounds or other surfaces. |
| Punjabi | In Punjabi, 'dhona' not only means 'to wash' but also refers to 'removing' or 'getting rid of something'. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "spalare" is derived from an older word "spala", which means "wash" or "bathe". It also has an alternate meaning in the medical context, referring to the process of debridement or cleaning a wound. |
| Russian | In the past, the Russian word “мыть” was used to describe baptism in the Old Church Slavonic language, and was related to the words “миро” (myrrh) and “масло” (oil). |
| Samoan | Muluti is the Samoan word to wash or to rinse and is cognate with terms for |
| Scots Gaelic | Scots Gaelic 'nigh' can also refer to the action of rubbing something, or of soaking a surface or item with a liquid |
| Serbian | The word "опрати" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *oprati, meaning "to bathe". |
| Sesotho | The word 'hlatsoa' may also mean 'to purify' or 'to cleanse' in a ritual sense. |
| Shona | The word "geza" and its derivatives "geza-geza" and "gezesa" are also used to mean "to wash away" or "to purify". |
| Sindhi | 'ڌوئڻ' primarily means 'to wash' and is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root '*dʰewh₁-' meaning 'to clean, wash'. The word also has secondary meanings such as 'to cleanse', 'to purify', and 'to rinse'. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "සේදීම" (wash) in Sinhala also means "to cleanse" or "to purify". |
| Slovak | Slovak verb "umyť" derives from the Proto-Slavic *umiti, meaning "to wet". |
| Slovenian | The root word "pran" is common to many Slavic languages and has the meaning of "washing" or "cleaning." |
| Somali | "Dhaq" is an alternative term for "clean" in Somali, often used in a religious context to denote spiritual purification. |
| Spanish | In addition to its primary meaning of "wash," "lavar" can also refer to purifying or cleansing something, or to repairing or fixing something. |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "nyeuseuh" can also refer to the process of bathing livestock. |
| Swahili | Osha is a word in Swahili that also means "to rub on" or "to apply" |
| Swedish | Tvätta can also refer to cleansing one's soul by confessing one's sins and thereby being released from guilt. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The term may have come from the root word "hugas" which also means "scrub" or "rinse". |
| Tajik | The word "шустан" in Tajik also refers to the act of cleaning one's hands and face before prayer. |
| Telugu | "కడగడం" in Telugu can also mean to rub or strike something." |
| Thai | In the phrase "ล้างหนี้" (làng née), "ล้าง" takes on the meaning of "to clear" or "to pay off". |
| Turkish | Yıkama, 'yıkamak' fiilinden türemiş olup 'yıkanma' anlamındadır. Ayrıca 'yıkama işlemi' veya 'yıkama makinesi' anlamında da kullanılır. |
| Ukrainian | The word "мити" can also refer to the process of washing dishes or clothes. |
| Urdu | دھونا also refers to the act of laundering clothes. |
| Uzbek | "Yuvinch" can also be a personal name in Uzbek, most commonly a female given name. |
| Vietnamese | "Rửa" is derived from the verb "rượt," meaning to pursue, and can also mean to cleanse or remove impurities. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "golch" can also mean "a creek". |
| Xhosa | Hlamba also means 'clean' in Xhosa, which reflects the importance of washing in Xhosa culture. |
| Yoruba | The word "wẹ" can also refer to the act of bathing or cleaning something. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'geza' means 'to wash', and is also used figuratively to mean 'to cleanse' or 'to purify'. |
| English | The verb 'wash' comes from the Old English word 'wascan', meaning 'to wash', and is related to the words 'water' and 'wet'. |