the.com/detergent

means A cleaning agent, usually synthetic, that surrounds grease and dirt particles so water can rinse them away — soap's lab-made successor.

from From Latin detergere, 'to wipe off or away' — de- ('away') plus tergere ('to wipe, rub clean'). The word existed in English as a general adjective for 'cleansing' things for centuries before chemists in the early-to-mid 20th century seized it for the new synthetic surfactants that could do what ordinary soap struggled with: lather in hard water and cold water alike. So the name is older than the product — it was borrowed from the language of wiping and scrubbing to brand a genuinely new kind of molecule.