Etymology Word of the Week – As some of you know, in addition to working in the Admissions Office, I also teach Latin at Saint Ignatius and am something of a "word nerd." Thus, each week, I’ll sneak a vocabulary word (sometimes derived from Latin, sometimes not) into the e-blast. Here then is this week’s edition of the Etymology Word of the Week.
Laundry - “articles of clothing, linen, etc. that have been or are to be washed; a business establishment where clothes, linens, etc. are laundered; a room or area, as in a home or apartment building, reserved for doing the family wash.” Contraction of the Middle English lavendrie or French lavanderie “wash-house.” From the Latin verb lavare, lavatum meaning “to wash, bathe, wet, moisten.'' (All information is from www.wikipedia.org, www.etymonline.com and/or www.dictionary.com)
RELATED WORDS/PHRASES – launder, lavender, lavish, lavatory, lather, alluvial, lotion, lye, deluge (BONUS QUESTION: Do you know the source of the quote, “Apres moi, le deluge”?)
SAMPLE SENTENCE: “With our college son being home for the summer, the amount of laundry being done in the house (not to mention lying on the floor) has gone through the roof.”