Bleach

How to spell bleach

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce bleach

What does bleach mean?

1. verbTo whiten or lighten something, often by chemical action or exposure to sunlight.
2. nounA chemical solution used to whiten fabrics or disinfect surfaces.

Bleach in a sentence

• verb

  The strong summer sun can bleach the curtains over time.

• noun

  He poured a capful of bleach into the mop bucket.

• verb

  She had to bleach the towels to remove the stains.

• noun

  The strong smell of bleach filled the freshly cleaned bathroom.

Where does bleach come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English word that traces back to the Old English verb blæcan, meaning 'to make white or pale', which grew from the Proto-Germanic root blaikjan with the same sense of whitening. That root is closely tied to words for shining or gleaming, and it is connected to the Old Norse bleikja and the German bleichen, both meaning 'to whiten'. Curiously, the very same Germanic family also gave English the word 'bleak', which originally meant 'pale' or 'colourless' before it came to describe a cold and dreary scene. The spelling keeps the 'ea' vowel digraph that English often uses for this long 'ee' sound, the same pattern seen in 'reach' and 'teach'. The chemical noun, naming the liquid or powder used to whiten and disinfect, developed from the verb in the early modern period as the household substance became common.

How the word is built

• bleach (from Old English blæcan: to make pale or white)