Bathes

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /beɪðz/

Definitions

1. To cleanse the body by immersing it in water or another liquid
2. To wash oneself or someone else using water or other cleansing fluids
3. To immerse in or apply water or another liquid for the purpose of cleaning

Etymology: "Bathes" is simply the third-person singular form of "bathe," so it reports what someone does when they wash their body, as in "she bathes the baby each night." The verb traces back to Old English "baþian," meaning "to bathe or wash," which came from a Proto-Germanic root shared with Dutch "baden," German "baden," Swedish "bada," and Icelandic "baða." Those modern cognates all still mean "to bathe," which shows how stable the core sense has stayed across the Germanic languages. The most surprising link is with "bath" itself, which is the noun from the same family. The root reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European base meaning "to warm," so the original idea behind washing was closer to heating water than to cleaning. The verb "bask," which means to lie in warmth, is also listed as a related word, suggesting that the notion of warmth and immersion has long been bound up with these terms.

Synonyms: immerses, washes, drenches

Antonyms: drys, parches