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• bath
  bath

  noun

  a washing or immersion of something, especially the body, in water, steam, etc., as for cleansing or medical treatment.
• Bath
  Bath

  noun

  a city in Avon, in SW England: mineral springs.
• Ba'th
  Ba'th

  noun

  an Arab Socialist party, esp in Iraq and Syria, founded by Michel Aflaq in 1941. It attempts to combine Marxism with pan-Islamic nationalism

bath

¹ American  

[bath, bahth] / bæθ, bɑθ /

noun

• baths
  plural

1. a washing or immersion of something, especially the body, in water, steam, etc., as for cleansing or medical treatment.

   I take a bath every day. Give the dog a bath.

2. a quantity of water or other liquid used for this purpose.

   running a bath.

3. a container for water or other cleansing liquid, as a bathtub.

4. a room equipped for bathing; bathroom.

   The house has two baths.

5. a building containing rooms or apartments with equipment for bathing; bathhouse.

6. Often baths one of the elaborate bathing establishments of the ancients.

   the baths of Caracalla.

7. Usually baths a town or resort visited for medical treatment by bathing or the like; spa.

8. a preparation, as an acid solution, in which something is immersed.

9. the container for such a preparation.

10. a device for controlling the temperature of something by the use of a surrounding medium, as sand, water, oil, etc.

11. Metallurgy.

    1. the depressed hearth of a steelmaking furnace.

    2. the molten metal being made into steel in a steelmaking furnace.

12. the state of being covered by a liquid, as perspiration.

    in a bath of sweat.

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verb (used with or without object)

Chiefly British.

• baths,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bathed,
  past participle,  past
• bathing
  present participle

1. to wash or soak in a bath.

idioms

1. take a bath, to suffer a large financial loss.

   Many investors are taking a bath on their bond investments.

bath ² American  

[bath] / bæθ /

noun

1. a Hebrew unit of liquid measure, equal to a quantity varying between 10 and 11 U.S. gallons (38 and 42 liters).

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Bath ³ American  

[bath, bahth] / bæθ, bɑθ /

noun

1. a city in Avon, in SW England: mineral springs.

2. a seaport in SW Maine.

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bath ¹ British  

/ bɑːθ /

noun

1. a large container, esp one made of enamelled iron or plastic, used for washing or medically treating the body

2. the act or an instance of washing in such a container

3. the amount of liquid contained in a bath

4. to turn on the taps to fill a bath with water for bathing oneself

5. (usually plural) a place that provides baths or a swimming pool for public use

6. 1. a vessel in which something is immersed to maintain it at a constant temperature, to process it photographically, electrolytically, etc, or to lubricate it

   2. the liquid used in such a vessel

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verb

1. to wash in a bath

Ba'th ² British  

/ bɑːθ /

noun

1. an Arab Socialist party, esp in Iraq and Syria, founded by Michel Aflaq in 1941. It attempts to combine Marxism with pan-Islamic nationalism

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Bath ³ British  

/ bɑːθ /

noun

1. Latin name: Aquae Sulis.  a city in SW England, in Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset, on the River Avon: famous for its hot springs; a fashionable spa in the 18th century; Roman remains, notably the baths; university (1966). Pop: 90 144 (2001)

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bath ⁴ British  

/ bæθ /

noun

1. an ancient Hebrew unit of liquid measure equal to about 8.3 Imperial gallons or 10 US gallons

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bath More Idioms  

1. see take a bath; throw out the baby with the bath water.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Ba′thism
  noun
• Ba′thist
  noun
• Ba′thi
  adjective
• bathless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• baths
  plural

Participles

• bathing
  present
• bathed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bath
  simple
• baths
  simple
• have bathed
  perfect
• has bathed
  perfect
• am bathing
  progressive
• are bathing
  progressive
• is bathing
  progressive
• have been bathing
  perfect progressive
• has been bathing
  perfect progressive

Past

• bathed
  simple
• had bathed
  perfect
• was bathing
  progressive
• were bathing
  progressive
• had been bathing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bath
  simple
• will have bathed
  perfect
• will be bathing
  progressive
• will have been bathing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of bath¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun bath, beth, beath, Old English bæth; cognate with Old Frisian beth, Old Saxon, Old Norse bath, German Bad; from Germanic bátha-n “what is warmed,” from a root meaning “to warm”

Origin of bath²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bath(us), batus, from Latin batus, from Greek bátos, from Hebrew bath

Explanation

The action of soaking or washing yourself in water is a bath. You might take a bubble bath to relax before bed after a stressful day. Your soak in soapy water is a bath, and the tub in which you're lying is also a bath. Other containers of water are baths too, particularly in cooking: "If the custard's sitting in a hot water bath, it will cook more evenly." While the Old English root bæð means "immersing in water," it also means "immersing in mud." If an investor "takes a bath," it means, colloquially, that she loses a lot of money.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bath Bath Ba'th baths bathed bathing

For the uninitiated, a sound bath is where a practitioner plays crystal or Tibetan sound bowls, gongs and chimes in a soothing way.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

The primary suite is one of a kind, featuring a spa-inspired bath, a free-standing soaking tub, a glass-enclosed shower, and a custom floating vanity, all accompanied by a terrace overlooking the garden.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

I said it before and I’ll say it again: More U.S. hotels should have beach-towel sized bath towels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Black Widow is holding meetings in a Russian bath.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026

Rain, mud, tiger, and goat’s milk—he needed a bath!

From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins

After losing his father at age 12, Curry earned a scholarship to the Kingswood School in Bath.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Bath & Body Works posted a profit of $118 million, or 58 cents a share, compared with $64 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Bath University professor David Ellis points out that each new technological trend - including the very use of mobile phones - has often prompted odd looks when deployed in public.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Basically, don't think that Pollock can be compared to Scotland's Finn Russell at Bath, as there are different rules.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Wife of Bath Battaglia’s lie was itself not very reassuring.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country.

From The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

On a Saturday morning in July, a swimsuit-clad crowd of athletic mostly 20- and 30-somethings jumped in and out of ice baths.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

According to Zillow, the building is 2,386 square feet, with one and a half baths.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

“Whatever the Jewish community needs, it exists in Iran,” including a yeshiva—a traditional Jewish center of study—and 24 ritual baths around the country, said Gerami.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

That, and sitting in salt rooms and mud baths or gazing at the bottom of our stand mixer’s bowl.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

She coaxed her out of bed for baths and meals.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

Rickards and others spoke of Parton's unifying spirit, her devotion to mountainous, working-class East Tennessee, and how the singer-songwriter's presence bathed the region in a sort of country glamor.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

Looking at my computer, I find myself lingering over a beautiful wide-angle photo of a mountain peak: giant slabs of sharp rock, brushed with snow and bathed in sunlight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

In the message, recorded before the crash, Javed described a dream: two angels had come for him and, before taking him away, bathed him in a fragrance that smelled of roses.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026

It’s bathed in sunlight that only occasionally shines on an ephemeral memory, revealing that the recollection is laced with as much honest love as regret.

From Salon ● May 25, 2026

They woke to a sense of peace and heavenly freshness; they bathed in a clear brook.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Each floor will have two neighborhoods, where staff will prepare meals for residents and assist residents with their daily needs, such as bathing and getting dressed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The daily amount depends instead on the type of care, such as nursing care or home healthcare services such as bathing and dressing.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Unrelated to the Blue Flag scheme, red flags can sometimes be flown at beaches and bathing waters following a short-term pollution incident.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

"They've even put obstacles in our way while we're trying to go around trying to save animals. I found 13 cats abandoned in one house who were bathing in their own faeces."

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

After dinner, Arturo pulled bucket after bucket of water out of the well in the courtyard to fill up the enormous bathing trough in the laundry room.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

Related Words

• bathroom
• lavatory
• restroom
• sauna
• shower
• toilet