[The same word as the prec. originally used in dat. pl. in a defining phrase, thus, Cod. Dipl., 290 (an. 864) ‘in illa famosa urbe ðæt is æt ðæm hátum baðum’ (in that famous town that is at the hot baths), 193 (an. 808) ‘in civitate æt Baðun’ (in the city at the Baths), whence as an indecl. sb. Baðum, Baðun, Baðon (latinized Bathonia), Baðan, Baðanceaster (see Bosworth); in 13th c. reduced to Baþen, Baþe, Bathe: in 17th c. Bath, in 18th c. sometimes with renewed reference to its spa, the Bath (or allusively the Baths).]
1. A well-known city in the west of England, so called from its hot springs.
973. O. E. Chron. On ðære ealdan byriʓ Acemannes ceastre, éac hi, oðre worde, beornas Baðan nemnað. Ibid. (1130). Godefreith of Bathe.
1297. [see prec. 8].
1562. [see prec. 13].
1624. Massinger, Parl. Love, II. iii. The far-famed English Bath, or German Spa.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 179, ¶ 7. An Under-Citizen of the Bath.
1727. R. Newton, Expl. Univ. Educ. reduced, 13. To take Oxford and Blenheim in his Way to the Bath.
1759. H. Walpole, Lett. H. Mann, 25 Sept. I am going to the Bath, with more opinion of … the change of air, than of the waters. (Cf. BATH1 13.)
2. a. attrib. of natural or artificial productions of the city, or of objects connected with it: e.g., Bath waters, etc. b. Used as a specific description in Bath-bun, -chap, -fagot, -ring, etc. c. Bath-brick, a preparation of calcareous earth molded in form of a brick, made at Bridgwater; used for cleaning polished metal. Bath-chair, a large chair on wheels for invalids. (Both these are often written without a capital B.) † Bath-coating, a material formerly fashionable for male attire. Bath Guide, a popular ‘Society’ poem of the 18th c., sometimes taken as a type of such verse. Bath-metal, an alloy, consisting of 3 or 4 oz. of zinc to one pound of copper (Ure). Bath oolite, Bath-stone, a building stone quarried from the colite formation near Bath. Bath-post, a sort of letter-paper.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., VII. i. I. 300. Scanty ill-baked loaves, more like baked *Bath bricks.
1863. Kingsley, Water-Bab., iv. 177. And found that the moon was just the shape of a *Bath bun.
1769. Mrs. Raffald, Eng. Housekpr. (1778), 271. To make *Bath Cakes.
1860. Venables, I. Wight, 121. *Bath chairs are always waiting the arrival of the steamers.
1873. Miss Braddon, Str. & Pilgr., III. xviii. 389. She … was brought here in a *bath-chair.
1829. Marryat, F. Mildmay, xvi. A *Bath chair-man.
1791. J. Lackington, Mem. Let., xix. (D.). One [great-coat] made of *Bath-coating.
1875. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Sports, I. I. ix. § 3. 123. A waistcoat of *Bath-coating or shag.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 3, ¶ 7. Little piles of notched sticks, bound up together in bundles like *Bath faggots.
1824. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1863), 92. [He] bepommelled it through three pages of *Bath-guide verses.
1750. Phil. Trans., XLVI. 586. Platina … like *Bath-metal, or cast Iron, brittle.
c. 1865. J. Wylde, in Circ. Sc., I. 153/2. The plain *Bath or satin post may be employed.
1785. Archæol., VII. 104 (D.). A lock of hair which was so perfectly strong that I had it woven into *Bath rings.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. 232. At Vichy, the oolite resembles our *Bath stone in appearance.
1723. Lond. Gaz., 6127/3. The Mayor … having appointed Carew Davis … Pumper of all the *Bath-waters.
1836. Scenes Commerce, 162. The Bath water is hot.
