Word Confusion: Bath versus Bathe

Plural for the noun: baths
Gerund: bathing

Third person present verb: baths
Past tense or past participle: bathed
Present participle: bathing

Third person present verb: bathes
Past tense or past participle: bathed
Present participle: bathing

• A container of water and its contents
• A bathtub
• [Usually baths] A public establishment offering bathing facilities
• [baths] A resort with a mineral spring used for medical treatment
• [Mainly North American] A bathroom
• [With modifier] A container holding a liquid or other substance in which something is immersed, typically when undergoing a process such as film developing

An ancient Hebrew liquid measure equivalent to about 40 liters or 9 gallons ²

Proper noun:
A city in southwestern England ³

Verb, intransitive:
To take a bath ¹

Verb, transitive:
[Chiefly British] To give a bath to ¹

• [Mainly British] Spend time in the ocean or a lake, river, or swimming pool for pleasure

To take a bath or sunbath

To swim for pleasure

To be covered or surrounded as if with water

Verb, transitive:
Soak or wipe gently with liquid to clean or soothe

• [North American] Wash (someone) in a bath

[Mainly British] Spend time in the ocean or a lake, river, or swimming pool for pleasure

To immerse (all or part of the body) in water or some other liquid, for cleansing, refreshment, etc.

• To wet
• Wash

To wash over or against, as by the action of the sea, a river, etc.

To cover or surround

He lay thinking in the bath.

I’m going to run a bath.

Pensioners in Bradford may be able to enjoy free swimming facilities at Corporation baths soon.

Moctezuma, after his battle, was accustomed to dip in the thermal baths of this place and rest.

The main difference was one had a half bath, kind of bathroom which neither one of us liked, but a much nicer cabinet layout in the kitchen.

After processing in this bath, the film is clear where the developed silver was and white where the remaining silver halide is.

Even though we got stuck in a rotten gold market, our readers didn’t take a bath.

The Bath, equal to 72 Logs, is thus the liquid equivalent of the Ephah, also equal to 72 Logs.

Proper noun:
Bath was founded by the Romans, who called it Aquae Sulis, and was a fashionable spa in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Bath was a fashionable spa in the 18th century.

I’m going shopping in Bath this weekend, anyone coming?

Verb, intransitive:
I usually bathe before going to bed.

It’s your turn to bathe.

Verb, transitive:
This is how to bath a baby.

The nurse will show you how to bath the baby.

It’s your turn to bath the baby.

He never bathed the kids when they were little.

I would land from time to time and swim and bathe in the lake and watch as white birds lifted from the water and soared off to the clouds.

I went back to my apartment to bathe and change.

He had not bathed for months, and he smelled very bad.

Do I have time to bathe?

Jane plans to sunbathe this afternoon.

He’s planning to bathe at the seashore.

She will bathe thee in tears.

Verb, transitive:
She bathed and bandaged my knee.

This is how to bathe a baby.

The park lay bathed in sunshine.

We had mussels literally bathed in garlic butter.

Incoming tides bathing the coral reef.

A shaft of sunlight bathed the room.

A morning fog settled in, bathing the city.

1. Old English bæth is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch bad and the German Bad.
2. From the Hebrew baṯ.
3. After the Romans conquered Britain in AD 43 as Aquae Sulis. The Roman baths were constructed around AD 60. The town went through various names until 1590 when Queen Elizabeth I granted the city a royal charter, creating the City of Bath.