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Origin and history of dash

dash(v.)

c. 1300, "strike suddenly and violently," also "move quickly, rush violently," and, transitive, "cause to strike suddenly and violently;" probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Swedish daska, Danish daske "to beat, strike"), somehow imitative. The oldest sense is that in dash to pieces and dashed hopes. Meaning "scatter or sprinkle" (something, over something else) is by 1520s. Intransitive meaning "write or sketch hurriedly" is by 1726 in dash off. By 1800 as a euphemism for damn. Related: Dashed; dashing.

also from c. 1300

dash(n.)

late 14c., "a violent striking together of two bodies," from dash (v.). In writing and printing, "horizontal line used as a punctuation mark," 1550s. Meaning "small infusion or mixture" is from 1610s. Meaning "showy appearance" is from 1715; sense of "capacity for prompt action" is by 1796. As one of the two Morse code signals from 1859. Sporting sense is from 1881, originally "a short race run in one attempt, not in heats."

also from late 14c.

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Entries linking to dash

dashing(adj.)

1796, "performed with dash, impetuous;" from 1801 as "given to cutting a dash," a colloquial expression attested from 1786 (see cut (v.)) for "acting brilliantly," from dash (n.) in the sense of "showy appearance" (1715). Earlier in the sense of "splashing" (1620s), which replaced dashende (mid-15c.) as a present-participle adjective. Related: Dashingly.

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balderdash(n.)

1590s, of obscure origin despite much 19c. conjecture; in early use "a jumbled mix of liquors" (milk and beer, beer and wine, etc.); by 1670s as "senseless jumble of words." Perhaps from dash and the first element perhaps cognate with Danish balder "noise, clatter" (see boulder). "But the word may be merely one of the numerous popular formations of no definite elements, so freely made in the Elizabethan period" [Century Dictionary].