Etymograph

English

lash

Lash comes from Middle English lashe ‘a stroke’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *laskô ‘flap of fabric, strap’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laskô1‘flap of fabric, strap’reconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lashe1‘a stroke’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1692lash1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English lash
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1692, Roger L’Estrange, (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name : “The moral is a lash at the vanity of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laskôWiktionary, English lash‘flap of fabric, strap’reconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lasheWiktionary, English lash‘a stroke’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1692lashWiktionary, English lash. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1692, Roger L’Estrange, (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name : “The moral is a lash at the vanity of…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *laskô

Another origin of lash

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lakʷ-‘to ensnare’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElaqueus‘noose’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lacier‘to lace’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600lachier
  5. Englishtodaylash

Another origin of lash

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lasche‘cowardly’
  2. Englishtodaylash

Today it means

noun The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lash”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *laskô / lash

Shirt and support for this word