▪ I. bath, n.1
(bɑːθ, -æ-)
Forms: 1–2 bæþ, 2–3 beð, 3 beaþ, 3–6 baþe, 3–7 bathe, 2– bath.
[Common Teutonic: OE. bæð = OS. bað, OHG. bad, pad, mod.G. bad, ON. bað (not recorded in Gothic):—OTeut. *batho-(m), neut. Prob. f. OTeut. verbal base *bajo- to foment (cf. OHG. pâwan, pâan, mod.G. bähen), cogn. with L. fovēre; the idea of ‘heat’ being originally prominent in bath: cf. stew. The technical senses show a parallel transition from the heating bath of chemistry to the merely steeping or washing bath of photography.]
I. The action of bathing; the state of being bathed.
1. The action of bathing or immersing the body, or a part of it, in water or other liquid. (Used playfully of accidental or involuntary immersion.)
Preceded by words indicating differences in the mode of application, or the part of the body subjected to it: thus, douche-bath, hip-bath, plunge-bath, shower-bath, sitz-bath, sponge-bath. Phrase, to take a bath.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 244 Bæþ him eᵹleð swiðost æfter mete. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xxiv. (1495) 74 A bathe in cold water. 1711 F. Fuller Med. Gymn. Pref., A Warm Bath is..suppos'd..to be only a kind of a last Resort. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxvi, He had imprudently taken a bath at too high a temperature. 1851 Kingsley Yeast iv. 75 Well, my man..how are you after your cold-bath? You are the heaviest fish I ever landed. Mod. The dripping trees gave us a gratuitous shower-bath. |
† 2. The immersion or washing of baptism.
Obs.| c 885 K. ælfred Oros. vi. xxxiv. §4 Hu hi hine bædan rihtes ᵹeleafan, and fullwihtes bæþes. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 23 Al swa clenliche swa crist ha þe bitahte on þas fulhtes beðe. c 1200 Ormin 18044 Þurrh shriffte & þurrh dædbotess baþþ, & ec þurrh beȝȝske tæress. |
3. By extension: The action of immersing the body in, or surrounding it with, any medium, such as vapour, hot air, mud, to produce effects analogous to those of bathing.
| 1771 J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. 294 The last Remedy he used was dry Baths.. performed with Spirit of Wine. |
4. The state of being suffused with a liquid, as perspiration.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. v. 120 And in the height of this Bath..to be throwne into the Thames. 1714 Mandeville Fab. Bees (1725) I. 271 His head all over in a bath of sweat. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) 1, To be all in a bath, sudore diffluere. |
5. fig. bath of blood: carnage. (
Ger. blutbad.)
| 1882 Farrar Early Chr. II. 207 Once more began the bath of blood for the hapless race. |
II. The liquid or element in which one bathes.
6. A quantity of water or other liquid prepared for bathing.
Preceded by
attrib. words indicating differences in the nature or temperature of the liquid used: thus,
hot bath,
warm bath,
tepid bath,
cold bath,
salt bath,
fresh-water bath.
| c 885 K. ælfred Bæda iv. xix, On hátum baðum. a 1000 Cynewulf Juliana (Grein) 581 Bæþ háte wéoll. a 1200 Moral Ode 218 His baþ scal bon wallinde [v.r. in E.E.P. 29 His beað scal beo wallinde pich]. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7481 A bathe of water, nouther hate ne cald. c 1440 Gesta Rom. i. 2 Be nakid, and go into a baþ þat I shalle make for the. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 135 To some..y⊇ hote forneys of fyre hath ben moche pleasaunt, as a temperate bathe. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 63 Conducted to a gentle Bath, And Balms applyed to you. 1647 W. Browne Polex. ii. 263 They put him into a bathe of fresh water. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 80 ¶5 To rise the next Morning and plunge into the Cold Bath. 1866 Kingsley Herew. xviii. 227 Countess, your bath is ready. |
† 7. The water of baptism.
Obs.| 971 Blickl. Hom. 27 Þe he of þam fulwihtes bæþe eode. c 1230 Ancr. R. 396 Þreo beðes he greiðede to his deore leofmon uorto wasshen hire in ham..Þet erest beð is fuluht. 1548 Cranmer Catech. 212 The water of Baptisme, which Paule calleth the bathe of regeneration. |
† 8. A spring of water (chiefly hot or impregnated with minerals) suitable for bathing.
Obs.| 864 Cod. Dipl. 290 æt þam hátum baðum. 1297 R. Glouc. 7 Þat water of Baþe..þat euer ys yliche hot..Suche baþes þer beþ fele in þe clos & in þe stret. c 1400 Mandeville viii. 88 In that Bathe was wont to come Watre fro Paradys. 1519 Four Elem. in Hazl. Dodsl. I. 6 The cause of the baths of water in the earth, which be perpetually hot. 1605 Camden Rem. 1 That I may say nothing of healthfull Bathes. a 1711 Ken Prayers for Baths Wks. (1838) 449 Look on the bath, as a very admirable and propitious work of Divine Providence. |
9. a. Any particular liquid or mixture of liquids applied to the body to produce a certain remedial effect; a wash or lotion wherewith to bathe the whole or any part of the body, or to immerse animals, or objects of any kind, in order to expose them to its effects.
Cf. 16, 17.
| 1542–3 Act 34–5 Hen. VIII, viii. §3 To..minister..to anie outwarde sore..herbes, oyntmentes, bathes, pultes and emplasters. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 295 To bath his legs with this bath. 1610 Markham Masterp. ii. lxxxii, Make a bathe or pultus thereof, and lay it to the sicke member. Mod. One of the best baths for sheep now in use. |
b. In the hydropathic treatment of disease, any yielding medium, as water (natural or medicated), mud, sand, etc., in which the body is bathed or immersed, or with which it is sprayed or showered: for examples see douche-
bath, mud-
bath, needle-
bath,
sand-bath 2,
shower-bath,
Turkish bath.
10. fig. and
transf. Any enveloping or surrounding medium, producing effects analogous to those of bathing.
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's T. 397 His herte bathid in a bath of blisse. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. ii. 38 Sleepe..The death of each dayes Life, sore Labors Bath. 1871 Smiles Charac. iii. (1876) 73 Enjoying a bath of sunshine. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion ii. v. 84 Bath of dazzling Day, Take these spent limbs, revive the old Titan blood. |
III. A receptacle, apartment, or place for bathing.
11. A vessel or receptacle intended to contain water for the purpose of bathing. (
Cf. 17.)
| 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 86 Season the slaues for Tubbes and Bathes. 1635 R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. i. 355 It is nothing to swimme in a warme Bath. 1790 Cowper Odyss. xvii. 104 And plung'd his feet into a polish'd bath. Mod. Baths for sale or hire. To run the water out of the bath. |
12. An apartment arranged for bathing, or a building containing a series of such apartments; (the latter usually
pl.). Now
esp. a room where one may bathe, a bathroom.
In Britain chiefly used as an advertising term for
bathroom; in somewhat more general use in N.
Amer.| 1591 Spenser Ruines Rome xxvii, These wals, these arcks, these baths, these temples hie. 1636 Healey Epictetus' Man. xxxi. 39 You cannot builde it a schoole, an Exchange, or a Bathe. 1757 Burke Abridgm. Eng. Hist. Wks. X. 218 A fondness for baths, for gardens, for grand houses. 1844 Mem. Babylon. P'cess. II. 30 At the principal bath in Beyroot. 1879 Boy's Own P. 118/2 The Autumn swimming fête was held at the Lambeth Baths. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt x. 141, I think I can let you have a room with bath. 1939 O. Lancaster Homes Sweet Homes 66 Three bed, two bath, a kitchen and all the usual offices. 1953 G. V. Carey Amer. into Eng. 34 Bath, sometimes denotes in American (scarcely ever in English) ‘bathroom’: ‘He went into the bath for a shower.’ ‘In the bath there was no shower but only a bathtub.’ 1967 R. Raine Wreath for America vii. 55 You've got a room booked for me, a single room with bath. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 43/8 (Advt.), Don Mills townhouse, 3 bedrooms, 1½ baths. |
13. A place for undergoing medical treatment by bathing and similar remedial agencies; a town resorted to for the sake of such treatment,
e.g.
Matlock Bath. Usually in
pl. Cf. Bath2 1.
| 1562 Turner Baths 1 Of the bathe of Baeth..The bath of England is..in a city called in Latin Bathonia, and Baeth in Englishe, of the bathes y{supt} are in it. 1572 J. Jones (title) The Bathes of Bathes Ayde. 1670 Cotton Espernon iii. x. 487 At liberty to go as far as the Frontier to the Baths at Banieres. 1739 Huxham Fevers iii. (1750) 30 Sent him to use the Waters at the Bath. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 27 His wife a faded beauty of the Baths. |
IV. Transferred uses in science and the arts.
† 14. (St.) Mary's Bath in
Alch., etc.: see
bain-marie.
Obs.| c 1470 Bk. Quintessence 13 Putte by .vij. daies to encorpere wel as tofore in þe bath of marien. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. i, F. is come over the helm too, I thank my maker, in S. Mary's bath. 1632 Sherwood, Maries Bath, Bain de Marie. |
15. Chem. (See
quot. 1846.)
| 1599 A. M. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physick 54 Bath it 3 dayes after other, euery day in a water bath. 1709 G. Wilson Chym. Expl. 3rd Table, The Sand Bath of the digesting Furnace. Ibid. 8th Table, The moist Bath of the Athanor. 1846 G. Wright Cream Sci. Knowl. 37 Bath in Chemistry, is a contrivance for producing a steady heat at high temperature, or at a temperature not exceeding that of boiling water. In the former, the substance to be heated is placed in a vessel immersed in sand, and this is called a sand-bath; in the latter water is employed instead, and this is called a water-bath, or balneum Mariæ. |
16. a. Dyeing, A preparation of colouring liquid in which the dyer immerses his cloth, etc.
| 1791 Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. i. i. 19 Each of them he dyed separately in a cochineal bath. |
b. spec. in
dung-bath: see
dung n. 5 c;
long bath, a dilute bath in which chemical action is comparatively slow;
short bath, a concentrated bath;
single bath, one in which the whole operation is completed;
standing bath, one that is used continuously;
white bath: see
white a. 11 e.
17. Photography, A solution in which photographic plates or prints are immersed, for the purposes of ‘sensitizing,’ fixing, toning, washing, etc.; the vessel in which the solution is contained.
| 1861 Photogr. News Alm. in Circ. Sc. 160/1 A thirty-five grain nitrate bath..is the best sensitising solution. c 1865 J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 148/2 The choice of a ‘bath’..for rendering a coated plate sensitive, has been a subject of great discussion amongst photographers. 1869 Eng. Mech. 17 Dec. 335/1 It varies with the strength of the..albumenising..bath. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 65 For the sensitising of the late, a glass or porcelain bath will be required. 1882 Abney Instr. Photogr. 109 The ordinary negative bath is used. |
18. Metallurgy, ‘A mass of molten material in a furnace.’ Raymond
Mining Gloss. 1881.
V. An order of knighthood.
19. a. Order of the Bath: a high order of British knighthood. (So called from the bath which preceded installation.)
| 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks Ep. Ded., My most especial good friend Sir Peter Manwood Knight of the Bath. 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 359 Those of the Bath were anciently mongst the old Franks. [See the whole passage.] 1747 Lind Lett. Navy (1757) I. 45 To wear..a star as the knights of the Bath do. 1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 24/2 The re-modelling of the Order of the Bath was dated January 2, 1815. |
b. Short for:
Bath King of Arms, the herald or marshal of the order.
| 1725 Lond. Gaz. No. 6382/4 Bath King of Arms then made his Reverences. Bath then delivered the Collar of the Order. |
VI. attrib. and
Comb., as
bath-bed,
bath-brush,
bath-cloth,
† bath-fat (
= sense 11),
bath-gown,
bath-keeper,
bath-mat,
bath-night,
bath oil,
bath-powder,
bath-sponge,
bath-stove,
bath-time,
bath-towel,
bath-tub,
bath-waste,
bath-water;
bath-loving adj., etc.
bath cubes,
essence,
salts, toilet preparations for softening or perfuming bath-water;
bath house, a building equipped with facilities for bathing,
occas. public baths;
U.S., a place where one may change into beach clothes at the seaside, etc.;
bath-robe orig. U.S., a dressing-gown,
esp. one made of towelling;
bath-sheet, a large bath-towel;
bath-towel, a large towel; hence
bath-towelling;
bath-tub gin, a concoction of spirits simulating gin (
orig. used to designate illicitly manufactured liquor);
bath vat (now
poet.)
= sense 11;
cf. bath-fat above.
| 1894 Daily News 8 Oct. 7/1 The appliances for treatment of special diseases, such as bath beds for typhoid. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 103/2 Combined Bath and Flesh Brushes..for wet or dry use. 1900 H. Lawson On Track 72 In the other hand she carried her tooth-brush and bath-brush, and soap. |
| 1618 B. Holyday Juvenal 4z They fold the bath-cloaths. |
| 1959 A. Wesker Roots ii. ii. 53 These bath cubes smell beautiful. |
| 1911 Beerbohm Zuleika D. xxi. 302 Eau de Violettes was the bath-essence that Zuleika always had. 1954 E. Jenkins Tortoise & Hare viii. 75 The bland scent of expensive soap and bath essence. |
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 267 The third sonne, Johne Stewart, was..slane in the Cannongait, in ane baith fatt. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 19 Aug. 5/3 The dressing-and bath-gowns. |
| 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4139/7 The Bath House at Buxton. 1882 H. Lansdell Siberia I. 192 Out-houses, such as kitchen-house and bath-house. 1800 W. Bentley Diary (1907) II. 399, I bathed in the river this evening, and the Bath House was opened for the first time. 1851 C. Cist Cincinnati 167 There are several public bath houses. |
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Bañador, a bathe keeper. |
| 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 190 Felt Bath Mats. 1927 M. de la Roche Jalna vii. 82 She stepped dripping on to the thick bath mat. |
| 1921 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix (1936) 15 It was Saturday night—bath-night. 1925 W. de la Mare Broomsticks 367 Even though it was ‘bath-night’ on Saturday. |
| 1962 Guardian 5 Dec. 6/4 ‘Arpège’ Bath Oil, 43s. 6d., will do 30 baths. 1968 K. Bird Smash Glass Image iii. 43 My array of bath oils and talcum powder. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 536/2 Parma violet bath powder and water softener. 1923 W. A. Poucher Perfumes & Cosmetics 327 Bath Powders are generally..highly perfumed. 1940 N. Marsh Surfeit of Lampreys (1941) viii. 115 Her round face shone and she smelt of bath powder. |
| 1902 Sears Catal. (ed. 112) 846/2 Fine Terry Cloth Bath Robe with Hood. 1924 A. D. Sedgwick Little French Girl ii. v. 139 One undressed in one's room and ran out over the cliff-top in espadrilles and bath-robe. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 536/1 Bath Salts (Fragrant)..will instantly soften the hardest water. 1920 A. Huxley Limbo 236 A very hot bath with lots of verbena bath-salts. 1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement viii. 411 My worthy employeress's terribly expensive bath salts. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 3 Jan. 3/2 The bath-sheets..seem to become masses of vibrating silver. 1912 E. M. Dell Way of Eagle (1927) lvi. 221 He stepped from the tent, clad loosely in a bath-sheet. 1967 Guardian 5 Sept. 4/6 Enormous great bath towels..as big as the bath sheets in Swiss hotels. |
| 1889 Cent. Dict. I. 474/3 Bath sponge. 1927 Haldane & Huxley Animal Biol. xii. 266 Our bath-sponges..are colonial, composed of a large number of sponge-bodies aggregated together. |
| 1591 G. Fletcher Russe Commw. (1836) 147 Made lyke the Germane bathstoaves. |
| 1907 A. Bennett Grim Smile Five T. 40 He isn't used to you at bath-time. |
| 1863 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. in All the Year Round 24 Oct. 206/1 A piece of sculptured drapery resembling the effigy of Titbull's bath-towel. 1903 Town & Country 24 Jan. 2/1 There's..a bath room with hot and cold water, soap, and real bath towels. |
| 1880 Bath towelling [see towelling 1]. 1926 ‘R. Crompton’ Wm.—the Conqueror iv. 65 Henry's was made of bath towelling and was rather conspicuous in design. |
| 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abroad xix. 187 They were going to put all three of us in one bath-tub. 1884 Century Mag. Dec. 266/2 English earthenware bath-tubs. 1930 C. Beaton Diary Dec. in Wandering Years (1961) 196 Five-star scotch or bathtub gin. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. iv. 1/1 Marijuana has become the Bathtub Gin of the 1960s. |
| 1874 Swinburne Bothwell ii. xviii. 216 A cover for his bath-vat. 1887 Morris Odyssey viii. 456 He gat him up out of the bath-vat. |
| 1936 Discovery Aug. 244/1 The trunk sprang from near the cement bath-waste channel... A large, shining drop of water splashed from the bath waste pipe. 1958 Betjeman Coll. Poems 142 All the bells of all the churches Sounded in the bath-waste running out into the frosty air. |
| a 1350 S. Eng. Legendary (E.E.T.S., 1956) I. 46 A uat þer stod of *baþ water [a 1325 of baþ]. 1891 Babyhood VII. 143/2 After the baby is three months old, the temperature of the bath water should be gradually reduced..until 80 degrees is reached. 1922, 1957 [see baby n. A. 1 e]. 1978 E. Gundrey Simple Plumbing 51 To siphon bathwater out to re-use for household cleaning..two people are needed. |
▪ II. bath, n.3 (
bæθ)
Forms: (4
batus), 6
bat,
batte, 6–
bath.
[a. Heb. bath: the earlier forms represented L. batus, Gr. βάτος of the Vulgate and Septuagint.] A Hebrew liquid-measure, containing about six and a half gallons.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxviii. (1495) 932 Batus is in fletynge thynges as cours, and Ephi in drye thynges. 1535 Coverdale Ezek. xlv. 14 The oyle shal be measured with the Bat..Ten Battes make one Homer. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 99 Bath & Epha seeme to be both one measure. 1611 Bible Isa. v. 10 Ten acres of Vineyard shall yeeld one Bath. 1623 Cockeram, Bath, ten pottles in liquor. |
▪ III. bath, v. (
bɑːθ,
-æ-)
[f. bath n.1; cf. to shoe, tub, pot, etc.; distinct from bathe; but the inflected forms, except baths, coincide in spelling, though not in pronunc., with the corresponding forms of bathe, and therefore are avoided in writing; batht and bath-ing, with a hyphen, have however been employed. In some early instances, bath may probably be only a variant spelling of bathe.] trans. To subject to a bath; to wash or immerse in a bath. Differing from
bathe in having a more distinct reference to sense 11 of
bath n.1, and in being always literal.
| [1483 Cath. Angl. 24 To bath or bathe, balneare. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iv. 296 A bath of þi blude to bath mans saule in. 1616 R. C. Times' Whis. (1871) 116 That fountaine rather Where faire Diana with her nymphs doth bath her?] 1660 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 366 To London and saw the bath-ing..of the Knights of the Bath. 1876 G. Macdonald T. Wingfield, He batht himself. Mod. The nurse who dresses and baths the younger children. |