Etymograph

English

squash

Squash comes from Middle English squachen, and goes back to Latin ex.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEex1
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*excoāctiāre1reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esquacher1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500squachen1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1848squash1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English squash
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, The Lotus: “[…] rain, too, had lately fallen, and had decidedly…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexWiktionary, English squash
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*excoāctiāreWiktionary, English squashreconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esquacherWiktionary, English squash
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500squachenWiktionary, English squash
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1848squashWiktionary, English squash. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, The Lotus: “[…] rain, too, had lately fallen, and had decidedly…”

The story

Probably influenced by Middle English quashen, quassen, from Old French esquasser, escasser (‘to crush, shatter, destroy, break’), from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex- + quassare (‘to shatter’) (see quash).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin ex

exchange, ex, extort, extenuating, affray, excommunicate, enunciation, 11 more

Another origin of squash

  1. Narragansettmodernaskutasquash‘􂀿a vegetable􂁀 eaten green (or raw)’
  2. Englishtodaysquash

Today it means

noun A sport played in a walled court with a soft rubber ball and bats like tennis racquets.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “squash”. 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 / Latin ex / squash

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