dentifrice
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of dentifrice
First recorded in 1450–1500; from Middle French, from Latin dentifricium “tooth powder, tooth paste,” equivalent to denti- denti- + fric(āre) “to rub” + -ium -ium
Explanation
Dentifrice is a fancy word for the stuff you put on your toothbrush to clean your teeth — in other words, dentifrice is toothpaste. In the 15th century, the equivalent word was dentifricie, and it meant "substance used for cleaning the teeth," from the Latin dentifricium, "powder for rubbing the teeth." The roots are dentis, "tooth," and fricare, "to rub," and that describes exactly how to use dentifrice. Your preferred form of dentifrice may be mint-flavored toothpaste, but many people use tooth powder instead, on a finger or a toothbrush.
Vocabulary lists containing dentifrice
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Forhan Co. does not monger its dentifrice as a cureall.
From Time Magazine Archive
The $80 million U.S. dentifrice industry was as fidgety last week as a colony of Lactobacillus acidophilus milling around in a test tube.
From Time Magazine Archive
But who does not use a "dentifrice" instead?
From Time Magazine Archive
The girls marched past progressively tougher words, from heroine, blossom and dentifrice to operose, miscible and quadrumanous.
From Time Magazine Archive
The leniency of the Government hitherto and the commercial energy of many religious orders, manufacturers of articles varying from chartreuse to hair-restorers and dentifrice, had enabled them to amass enormous sums held in mortmain.
From A History of the Third French Republic by Wright, C. H. C. (Charles Henry Conrad)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
