Etymologically
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fop

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fɒp/ (UK); /fɑp/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English foppe “a fool”,[2][3][4][5][6] of uncertain origin.[3][4] It is probably related to Middle English fobben “to deceive”[5][2][6] and to German foppen “to make a fool of”.[3][4][5] Compare fob “to cheat”.[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A foolish person (about 1440).[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 1670s the word came to mean a man foolishly attentive to his dress and manners,[7][3][4] perhaps given in mockery by those who thought such things foolish.[4] The 18th century was the great age of fops.[4] The old sense of “fool” is obsolete,[7][5] as is the verb fop “to dupe”.[5][7]

Timeline

  • c1440 – a foolish person.[7][3]
  • a1529 – verb, to play the fool.[7]
  • c1590 – verb, to dupe.[5]
  • 1672–6 – a dandy.[7][3]
  • 1680s – fopling.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A man who is vain about his clothes and manners; a dandy.
  2. (obsolete) A foolish person.

Word family

  • foppery
  • foppish

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press