Language Of Confusion: Laundering, Part I

This week, we’re looking at words related to washing things, many of which are actually related.
 
First, laundry showed up in the late fourteenth century, where it meant a place for washing, not meaning washing itself until the mid fifteenth century. Then there’s launder as a verb, which actually didn’t show up until the mid seventeenth century, though it did appear as a noun meaning one who washes in the mid fifteenth century. Launder comes from the Old French lavandier and Medieval Latin lavandaria, while laundry was the Middle English lavendrie and Old French lavanderie, and before that the Vulgar Latin lavandaria, and yes, the two different varieties of Latin had slightly different meanings even if the words are the same. Both are from the classical Latin lavare, to wash, from the Proto Indo European leue-, to wash. And hey, laundering money didn’t come into existence until 1961 and was popularized by Watergate. Just FYI.
 
Now quite a few words come from leue-. First is lather, which makes sense, as lathering is part of washing. It actually comes from the Old English leaþr, which means foam or soap. Before that, it was the Proto Germanic lauthran, and Proto Indo European loutro-, which is also from leue-. What a sensible origin.
 
Then there’s lavatory, which I can see since lavatories (should) involve washing. It showed up in the late fourteenth century as a word for washbasin, then meant a washroom in the mid seventeenth century, and meaning a bathroom in 1864. It’s from the Late Latin lavatorium, from the classical Latin lavatorius, something for washing, which is from lavare. Lavatories—wash your hands! Plus there’s also latrine, which showed up in the fourteenth century. It’s thought to be from the classical Latin latrina/latrinum, toilet, and that’s actually a contraction of lavatrina, bathroom, and of course it’s from lavare. I can’t believe they got rid of the V in a contraction. I mean, the word is barely any shorter.
 
Finally today, lye, which used to be a word for soap. It comes from the Old English laeg/leag, lye, from the Proto Germanic laugo, which is from leue-. Because lye was used as soap, it is from the word to wash.
 
I know, this week seemed very reasonable. Don’t worry, there’s more, and I’m sure it’ll be weird then.
 
Sources
Online Etymology Dictionary
Google Translate
Omniglot
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center
University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language
University of Texas at Arlington
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Dictionary of Medieval Latin
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Orbis Latinus