Where does “whitewashing” come from?
Whitewashing derives from English white and the Old English suffix -ing, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wey-, meaning to turn or bend.
whitewashing (English): The application of whitewash; The effacement of...
Definitions
- The application of whitewash; The effacement of...
Ancestry of “whitewashing”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | whitewash | A lime and water mixture for painting walls and... |
| 2 | English | White | Alternative letter-case form of white; An... |
| 3 | English | sox | plural of sock |
| 4 | English | socks | plural of sock; Third-person singular simple... |
| 5 | English | sock | A knitted or woven covering for the foot; A shoe... |
| 6 | French | soc | plowshare; Boston butt |
| 7 | Vulgar Latin | soccus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Celtic | sukkos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | suH- | pig, hog, swine |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | sewH- | to bear; to give birth |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | sew- | to press out, extract; juice; liquid, rain; to... |