entry
clash
/klæʃ/loud sound; violent disagreement
From imitative / onomatopoeic clash (a sharp smack).
Word Ancestry
A word like this sounds as if it was born in a kitchen, a blacksmith’s shop, or a tavern brawl. English speakers around 1500 were already using clash for a sharp metallic smack, and that noisy little syllable seems to have been made by the sound itself rather than borrowed from a more respectable ancestor. Etymologists usually file it as imitative, though some think it may be a blend of clap and crash — which is a very English way to make a new word: take two loud words and smash them together. By the 1620s, the sound had become a feud, and by 1867 even colors could clash, as if red and orange were tiny belligerents in the same room. Once you hear it, you can’t quite unhear it: clash is what language sounds like when it has just bumped into a chair.
The Story
A word like this sounds as if it was born in a kitchen, a blacksmith’s shop, or a tavern brawl. English speakers around 1500 were already using clash for a sharp metallic smack, and that noisy little syllable seems to have been made by the sound itself rather than borrowed from a more respectable ancestor. Etymologists usually file it as imitative, though some think it may be a blend of clap and crash — which is a very English way to make a new word: take two loud words and smash them together. By the 1620s, the sound had become a feud, and by 1867 even colors could clash, as if red and orange were tiny belligerents in the same room. Once you hear it, you can’t quite unhear it: clash is what language sounds like when it has just bumped into a chair.
Kin & Kindred
From 'clash'·a sharp smack, crash, or collision
Derived Terms
English words from this root