lather

Pronunciation: /ˈlɑː.ðə/

The English word “lather” has 6 meanings listed here.

noun

The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water.
Foam from profuse sweating, as of a horse.
A state of agitation.

verb

To cover with lather.
To beat or whip.
To form lather or froth, as a horse does when profusely sweating.

Etymology

From Middle English lather, from Old English lēaþor (“a kind of nitre used for soap, soda”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauþr, from Proto-Germanic *lauþrą (“that which is used for washing, soap”), from Proto-Indo-European *lówh₃trom (“that which is used for washing”), from *lewh₃-, *lowh₃- (“to wash, bathe”). Cognate with Swedish lödder (“lather, foam, froth, soap”), Icelandic löður (“foam, froth,…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.