Golosh

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rubber overshoe pulled on over ordinary shoes to keep the feet dry in rain, slush or mud
2. A protective outer shoe made of waterproof rubber, worn over footwear when the ground is wet
3. Waterproof rubber footwear slipped over regular shoes to guard against wet and muddy conditions

Etymology: Before it meant a rubber overshoe, the word "galosh" was a wooden-soled shoe, and the source of that wood is still debated. Its Middle English form, "galoche," came from Old French "galoche," which described a shoe with a wooden sole. Scholars have not settled where the Old French word came from, and several proposals have been made. One proposal traces it to a Late Latin term for a wooden shoe, which was itself borrowed from a Greek word meaning "shoemaker's block," built from the Greek for "wood" and "foot." Another links it to "Gallic sandal," a Latin phrase, while a third connects it to Old French "galette," a flat round cake, through "galet," meaning pebble. Each theory depends on sound and meaning changes that are hard to prove, so the origin remains open. The rubber overshoe came later, and the word followed the change in material as the wooden sole gave way to rubber.