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Origin and history of plash

plash(n.)

"small puddle, shallow pool, wet ground," Old English plæsc "pool of water, puddle," probably imitative (compare plash (v.1) and Dutch plass "pool"). Meaning "noise made by splashing" is recorded by 1510s. Related: Plashy.

plash(v.1)

"to splash, dabble in water," 1580s, from plash (n.) and also imitative (compare Dutch plassen, German platschen). An earlier form of splash. Related: Plashed; plashing.

plash(v.2)

"to interlace, to bend and interweave the branches or twigs of," late 15c. (implied in plashing), from Old French plaissier, from Latin plectere "to plait," from suffixed form of PIE root *plek- "to plait." Related: Plashed.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to plash

splash(v.)

1715 (intransitive), "dabble about in water or some other liquid;" 1722 (transitive), "spatter," probably an alteration of plash with an intensive s-. Related: Splashed; splashing. Splash-board, to protect the occupants of a vehicle from splashing of the horse's feet, is attested from 1826 (compare dashboard). Splash-down (n.) in the "landing of a spacecraft in the ocean" sense is attested from 1961.

*plek-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to plait." It is an extended form of root *pel- (2) "to fold."

It might form all or part of: accomplice; application; apply; complex; complexion; complicate; complication; complicity; deploy; display; duplex; duplicate; duplicity; employ; explicate; explicit; exploit; flax; implex; implicate; implication; implicit; imply; multiply; perplex; perplexity; plait; plash (v.2) "to interlace;" pleat; -plex; plexus; pliable; pliant; plie; plight (n.1) "condition or state;" ply (v.1) "work with, use;" ply (v.2) "to bend; ply (n.) "a layer, fold;" replica; replicate; replication; reply; simplex; splay; triplicate.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit prasna- "turban;" Greek plekein "to plait, braid, wind, twine," plektos "twisted;" Latin plicare "to lay, fold, twist," plectere (past participle plexus) "to plait, braid, intertwine;" Old Church Slavonic plesti "to braid, plait, twist," Russian plesti; Gothic flahta "braid;" Old Norse fletta, Old High German flehtan "to plait;" Old English fleax "cloth made with flax, linen."

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    Trends of plash

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    swash
    1530s, expressing a blow or the fall of a heavy body, probably imitative. It also meant "pig-wash, filth, wet refuse" (1520s) and may have been imitative of the sound of water dashing against solid objects or a heavy blow on a yielding surface. The meaning "a body of splashing wa
    interlace
    formerly also enterlace, late 14c. (trans.), "unite by crossing the laces," thus, "entangle, bind together," from Old French entrelacier (12c.), from entre- (see entre-) "between" + lacier "to tie, entangle," from laz (see lace (n.)). Intransitive sense from 1590s. Television sen
    noise
    c. 1200, "sound of a musical instrument;" mid-13c., "loud speech, outcry, clamor, shouting;" c. 1300, "a sound of any kind from any source," especially a loud and disagreeable sound, from Old French noise "din, disturbance, uproar, brawl" (11c., in modern French only in phrase ch
    dot
    "point or minute spot on a surface," Old English dott, once, "speck, head of a boil," perhaps related to Norwegian dot "lump, small knot," Dutch dot "knot, small bunch, wisp," Old High German tutta "nipple;" a word of uncertain etymology. Known from a single source c. 1000; the w
    sprinkle
    "scatter drops or particles," late 14c., sprenklen (implied in sprynklid), frequentative of sprenge (see spring (v.), also see -el (3)); cognate with or influenced by Dutch sprenkelen, Low German sprenkeln, German sprenkeln; and the nouns Middle Dutch, Middle Low German sprenkel
    scatter
    mid-12c., scateren, transitive, "to squander;" c. 1300, "to separate and drive off in disorder;" late 14c., "to throw loosely about, strew here and there," possibly a northern English variant of Middle English schateren (see shatter), reflecting Norse influence. The intransitive
    slush
    1640s, "melting snow, snow and water," perhaps from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegian and Swedish slask "slushy ground;" obsolete Danish slus "sleet"), all probably imitative of the sound of sloshing. It is attested by 1772 as "sludge, watery mire." Slush fund is first att
    dust
    "fine, dry particles of earth or other matter so light that they can be raised and carried by the wind," Old English dust, from Proto-Germanic *dunstaz (source also of Old High German tunst "storm, breath," German Dunst "mist, vapor," Danish dyst "milldust," Dutch duist), from PI
    stud
    [post; also ornamental knob] Middle English stode, from Old English studu "pillar, prop, post, upright timber used as a support," from Proto-Germanic *stud- (source also of Old Norse stoð "staff, stick," properly "stay," Middle High German stud, Old English stow "place"), from PI
    disperse
    late 14c., dispersen, "to scatter, separate and send off or drive in different directions," from Latin dispersus, past participle of dispergere "to scatter," from dis- "apart, in every direction" (see dis-) + spargere "to scatter" (see sparse). The Latin word is glossed in Old En

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