Water

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈwɔ.təɹ/

Definitions

1. A clear liquid essential for life that covers most of Earth's surface and falls as rain
2. A transparent, odorless substance vital for organisms that exists in oceans, rivers, and as precipitation to support ecosystems
3. An essential colorless liquid found abundantly on Earth in various forms, including oceans and rainfall, critical for sustaining life

Etymology: The most striking thing about "water" is how far its family reaches. Its Proto-Indo-European ancestor, ""wódr̥", is the same root behind the Greek "húdōr", the Russian "voda", the Polish "woda" and the Sanskrit "udán", meaning "wave, water". The Latin "unda" ("wave") belongs to this group too, so the English word sits in a family that stretches from the Atlantic to the Indian subcontinent. Within Germanic, the word developed as ""watōr" and passed into Old English as "wæter". The Gothic "watō" and modern German "Wasser" show the same pattern, as do Dutch "water", Swedish "vatten" and Icelandic "vatn". Old Irish gives an unexpected cousin: "coin fodorne", meaning "otters", literally "water-dogs". English also turned the noun into a verb. Middle English "wateren", from Old English "wæterian", gave us the sense of supplying something with water, and the same root appears in verbs across the Germanic languages.

Synonyms: aqua, H2O, liquid, fluid, moisture

Antonyms: dryness, desiccation