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Origin and history of soap

soap(n.)

Middle English sope, from Old English sape "soap, salve," anciently a reddish hair dye used by Germanic warriors to give a frightening appearance, from Proto-Germanic *saipon "dripping thing, resin" (source also of Middle Low German sepe, West Frisian sjippe, Dutch zeep, Old High German seiffa, German seife "soap," Old High German seifar "foam," Old English sipian "to drip"), from PIE *soi-bon-, from root *seib- "to pour out, drip, trickle" (perhaps also the source also of Latin sebum "tallow, suet, grease").

Romans and Greeks used oil to cleanse the skin; the Romance words for "soap" (Italian sapone, French savon, Spanish jabon) are from Late Latin sapo "pomade for coloring the hair" (first mentioned in Pliny), which is a Germanic loan-word, as is Finnish saippua. Soap bubble is by 1794. The figurative meaning "flattery" is recorded from 1853.

soap(v.)

"rub or treat with soap," 1580s, from soap (n.). Related: Soaped; soaping.

also from 1580s

Entries linking to soap

saponaceous(adj.)

"soapy, resembling soap," 1710, from Latin sapo, sapon (see soap (n.)) + -aceous. In mid-19c. jocular use for "slippery, unctuous" in figurative senses (1837). Related: Saponacity. 

saponification(n.)

"conversion into soap," 1801, from French saponification, from saponifier, from Modern Latin saponificare, from sapon "soap" (see soap (n.)) + -ficare, combining form of Latin facere "to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

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sieve
"a strainer, simple instrument for separating the finer from the coarser parts of disintegrated matter by shaking it so as to force the former through holes or meshes too small for the latter to pass," Middle English sive, from Old English sife, from Proto-Germanic *sib (source a
scoop
mid-14c., scōpen, "to bail out, draw out with a scoop," from scoop (n.) and from Middle Low German schüppen "to draw water," Middle Dutch schoppen, from Proto-Germanic *skuppon (source also of Old Saxon skeppian, Dutch scheppen, Old High German scaphan, German schöpfen "to scoop,
lather
Old English leaþr "foam, soap, washing soda," from Proto-Germanic *lauthran (source also of Old Norse lauðr "washing soap, foam"), from PIE *loutro- (source also of Gaulish lautron, Old Irish loathar "bathing tub," Greek louein "to bathe," Latin lavere "to wash"), which is from r
smegma
"sebaceous secretion," 1811, from Latin, from Greek smēgma "a detergent, soap, unguent," from smēkhein "to wipe off, wipe...So called from resemblance of the substance to soap; a medical coinage, the word seems to have been very rare in English...
dishpan
Without any break since then the company has alluded to " dishpan hands" which come from using soap that is too strong in...
lye
The substance formerly was used in place of soap, hence Old High German luhhen "to wash," Old Norse laug "hot bath, hot spring...
rinse
In general use, of bowls, cups, etc., c. 1400; the meaning "wash (laundry) a second time to remove remaining impurities, soap...
halter
Old English hælfter "rope for leading a horse," from Proto-Germanic *halftra- "that by which something is held" (source also of Old Saxon haliftra "halter," Old High German halftra, Middle Dutch halfter), from suffixed form of PIE *kelp- "to hold, grasp" (see helve). Also "hangma
vale
river-land between two ranges of hills, early 14c., from Old French val "valley, vale" (12c.), from Latin vallem (nominative vallis, valles) "valley" (see valley). Now "little used except in poetry" [Century Dictionary]. Vale of years "old age" is from "Othello." Vale of tears "t
veal
late 14c., "calf meat as food," from Anglo-French vel, Old French veel "a calf" (12c., Modern French veau), earlier vedel, from Latin vitellus "a little calf," diminutive of vitulus "calf," perhaps originally "yearling," if related, as some think, to Sanskrit vatsah "calf," liter

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