lap
English has two words spelled lap: one, from Old English læppa, a flap, gives the lap of a seated person and, through a verb meaning to fold or wrap, a circuit of a racetrack; the other, from Old English lapian, means to lick up.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /læp/[4]
lap1 the thighs of a seated person; a circuit
Etymology
It is Middle English lappe, inherited from Old English læppa (“skirt or flap of a garment; lobe”),[1][2][5] from Proto-Germanic *lapp-, source also of Old Saxon lappo, Dutch lap, German Lappen (“rag, shred”) and Old Norse leppr, patch, rag,[2][3] a word of uncertain origin;[2] Greek λοβός (lobós, “lobe”) has been compared.[2][3] The verb, to wrap or fold, and the noun meaning a circuit come from it.[1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
A flap of a garment: about 897 in the OED.[6] The front part from waist to knees of a seated person is probably from before 1300.[1][2]
Semantic evolution
The lower front of a shirt or skirt, held up to carry things, led to the sense of the upper legs of a seated person (about 1300).[2][7] A lobe of the ear or liver is an Old English sense,[6] surviving in dewlap.[2] The figurative lap of luxury is from 1760.[2] The verb, to wrap or fold round, is from the early 14th century,[2][1] and to lay one thing partly over another from 1607.[1] From this came a thing wrapped up (1670s) and an overlapping part (1800);[2] a single circuit of a racetrack is from 1861, the verb to lap a competitor from 1847.[2][1]
Timeline
- c. 897 – a flap of a garment.[6]
- c. 1300 – the thighs of a seated person.[2]
- early 14th century – to wrap (verb).[2]
- 1607 – to overlap.[1]
- 1760 – lap of luxury.[2]
- 1861 – a circuit of a track.[2][1]
Modern meaning
Noun
- The flat area formed by the thighs of a seated person.
- One circuit of a racetrack or one length of a swimming pool.
- A stage of a journey.
- An overlapping part.
Verb
- To overtake a competitor who is a lap behind.
- To wrap, fold or enfold.
- To lay something so that it partly covers something else; to overlap.
Word family
- lapdog
- lapel
- lappet
- overlap
- dewlap
lap2 to lick up
Etymology
It is Middle English lapen, inherited from Old English lapian (“to lap up, drink”),[1][2][5] from Proto-Germanic *lapōną,[1][2] cognate with Old High German laffan (“to lick”) and Icelandic lepja,[1][5] from an imitative PIE base *lab-, also the source of Greek laptein, to sip, and Latin lambere (“to lick”).[2][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
To drink by lapping: about 1000.[1][6]
Semantic evolution
Of water, to splash gently against something, is by 1823, from the similar sound.[2] The figurative lap up, to receive eagerly, is by 1890.[2] The noun, liquid food or a weak drink, is from the 1560s.[2]
Timeline
- c. 1000 – to lap up.[1]
- 1560s – weak drink (noun).[2]
- 1823 – of water, to splash.[2]
- 1890 – lap up, to accept eagerly.[2]
Modern meaning
Verb
- Of an animal, to drink by taking up liquid with the tongue.
- Of water, to wash against something with a gentle splashing sound.
- (lap up) To accept eagerly.
Related words
- burlap
- lobe
- wrap
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press