water

water
\ \ [OE] Water is an ancient and widespread word, which goes back ultimately to prehistoric Indo-European *wodōr. Its relatives include Greek húdōrwater’ (source of the English prefix hydro-), Latin undawave’ (source of English redundant, surround, undulate, etc), Russian vodawater’ (source of English vodka), Gaelic uisgewater’ (source of English whisky), Lithuanian vanduōwater’, Latvian ūdenswater’, Sanskrit udánwater’, and Hittite watarwater’. In the Germanic languages it has become German wasser (source of English vaseline), Dutch and English water, Swedish vatten, and Danish vand. Otter comes from a variant of the same Indo-European base, as may winter, and wet is closely related.
\ \ Cf.ABOUND, HYDRO-, OTTER, REDUNDANT, SURROUND, UNDULATE, VASELINE, VODKA, WET, WHISKY

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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Synonyms:
, , , / (for drink), , , , / (as cloth, to give it an undulating or wavy appearance)


Look at other dictionaries:

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  • wáter — wáter, water closet → váter …   Diccionario panhispánico de dudas

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