Launder

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈlɔːndə/

Definitions

1. To wash clothing or fabric items to clean them ; to disguise the origin of money gained through unlawful means
2. The act of cleansing textiles or garments from dirt or stains ; the process of making illegally acquired money appear legitimate
3. Cleaning or refreshing garments by washing ; converting money obtained by crime into seemingly legal funds

Etymology: The verb "launder" is a shortened form of the older "lavender," which once meant a person who washed clothes. Its ancestor was the Old French "lavandiere," a washerwoman, drawn from the Late Latin "lavandera," itself built on the Latin "lavo," meaning "to wash." So the trade of the washerwoman gave English its word for cleaning fabric, and the modern sense of cleaning dirty linen came first. The surprising twist is that the word for the washing person is the one that survived as a verb's ancestor, while the original noun disappeared from common use. Middle English "lavender" was eventually worn down by the loss of its middle syllable, leaving "launder." The name of the sweet-smelling plant "lavender" is a separate word from a different Latin source, and only looks like a relative by coincidence of spelling.

Synonyms: clean, wash, purify, sanitize, remove stains

Antonyms: dirty, soil, stain, taint, pollute