entrap

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from Old French entraper (“to catch in a trap”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} or its Middle French continuation,^[7][8] formed from en- (“in”) and trappe (“trap”),^[3][6][4] a word of Germanic origin.^[3] Barnhart thinks the French source probable.^[9] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century, meaning to entrap, seize or catch,^[10] and Old French had it from the late 12th century.^[11] The OED, revised in 2018, instead takes it as formed from English en- + trap, from the noun or the verb, and compares the French verbs; it was preceded by trap as a verb and, slightly, by attrap.^[11] Early forms such as intrap (1534) show the prefix in-.^[11][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To catch in a trap or as in a trap, and to lead someone into difficulty by deceit: both in 1531, in Thomas Elyot's Boke Named the Governour.^[11] Etymonline dates the word to the 1530s, as intrappe,^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1534,^[7] and Dictionary.com to 1525–35.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, to trick someone into danger or into doing something compromising, is as old as the literal one.^[11] From 1566 the verb was used with to or into, and of drawing someone into a contradiction or an incriminating statement.^[11] The spelling entrap replaced intrap by the 1590s, when Spenser used it in the Faerie Queene.^[9][12] Johnson (1755) gave two senses, "to ensnare; to catch in a trap or snare" and "to involve unexpectedly in difficulties or distresses", quoting Spenser.^[13] In modern scientific use the verb also means to capture and hold a substance, such as fumes or particles.^[7][5]

Timeline

• 1531 – to catch in a trap; to trick into difficulty or danger.^[11]
• 1534 – the spelling intrap.^[9][7]
• 1566 – with to or into; to draw someone into a contradiction or an incriminating statement.^[11]
• 1590–96 – the spelling entrap, in Spenser's Faerie Queene.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To catch in a trap, or as if in one: The net entrapped several crabs.^[14][7][11]
2. To lure or trick someone into danger, difficulty or embarrassment, or into a compromising act.^[14][11]
3. To trick someone into contradicting themselves or making an incriminating statement.^[11][5]
4. To capture and hold a substance, as a filter or a gel does.^[7][5]

Word family

• entrapment
• entrapper
• entrappingly
• unentrapped

Related words

• trap

Usage notes

The OED records a separate, obsolete verb entrap, to adorn a horse with trappings, formed from en- and trap "to caparison"; it has a single quotation, from 1654.^[11]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins