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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

A Wayfair coupon helped me score two fancy bath mats at a steep markdown.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Black Widow is holding meetings in a Russian bath.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026

The California African American Museum in Exposition Park will offer a wellness combo on Sunday, Aug. 9: that is, a 60-minute yoga session followed by a 60-minute sound bath to unwind after flowing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

The court heard these included a video of a patient in the bath, another of a patient in bed and another with her nose almost touching one of the patients.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

“Busy, busy me!” she thought as she lowered herself into the bath.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

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 Cats and Dogs Home, which gives its surplus pet food to food banks, said it had also seen a drop in donations of dog food.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

In areas like Weston-super-Mare, Bath, Bristol, Cheltenham and Warminster people gathered to watch the phenomenon with special glasses, alongside DIY viewers who looked through cereal boxes and colanders.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

She wouldn’t have recognized him as Jamie—tonight he was the picture of rosy health, nothing like the gray-faced, grieving invalid she’d last seen slumping bandaged and unresponsive in a Bath chair.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

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

The protagonist of Ibsen’s play, Dr. Thomas Stockmann, is a staff physician at the municipal spa baths, the town’s economic lifeblood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

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

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Rabbi Yehuda Gerami each week leads worshipers at his recently renovated Abrishami Synagogue, which is part of a complex including Jewish schools, a kosher restaurant and traditional baths.

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

"How d'you like your baths?" she asked, solicitously, "warm, hot, or boil-a-lobster?"

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

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

Shimmering silver foil curtains hung from the front windows and the adjacent workout room, equipped with a mirrored wall and barres, was bathed in soft bubble-gum pink light.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

We all know the story by now of the duo's first meeting almost 20 years ago, when a five-month-old Lamine Yamal was pictured being bathed by a 20-year-old Messi for a competition photoshoot.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Spain’s lineup features 19-year-old Lamine Yamal, who was photographed as a baby being bathed by Messi in a 2007 Unicef photoshoot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

"I say I'm just back. Haven't bathed even. Michael comes in to-night."

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

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

The Environment Agency, the regulator which monitors water quality at bathing waters, rates bathing waters from "excellent" to "poor" based on bacteria found in water samples collected over a rolling four-year period.

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

She races toward the house to change into her bathing suit.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Related Words

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