yıkamak

Meaning

to wash

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish یایقامق (yaykamak, “to wash”). There are two theories about the further etymology:
* According to Nişanyan and Clauson it is derived from Old Turkic [script needed] (yayık, “agitation, playful, unstable”), derived from Old Turkic [script needed] (yay-, “to shake, rinse”), therefore it must be a secondary form derived from Proto-Turkic *yāń- (“to shake”). See yayık.
* Altaicists construct Proto-Turkic *yańka- (“to shake, bring into motion”), and derive it (compare Mongolian найгах (najgax, “to shake, sway”)) from a Proto-Altaic root meaning "to incline, sway, shake". However, the Altaic theory is now widely discredited.
Compare çalkalamak for a similar semantic reach. Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰖𐰪 (yań-, “to scatter”), Khalaj yâmaq (“to churn butter”), Azerbaijani yaxalamaq (“to rinse”), Turkmen yāymak (“to churn butter”).