Etymologically
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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mapemounde (“map of the world”) in a shortened form,[2][3] and partly borrowed from Middle French mappe, shortened from Old French mapemonde,[2][3] from Medieval Latin mappa mundi (“map of the world”),[2][3][4] from Latin mappa (“napkin, cloth”), on which maps were drawn,[2][3] and mundī, genitive of mundus (“world”).[2][4] Quintilian said mappa was of Punic origin,[2] and Merriam-Webster relates it to a Hebrew word for a fan.[5][3] The verb is from the noun.[3][2] It is related to napkin and apron.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A representation of the earth's surface: 1527,[3][6][5] the 1520s in Etymonline.[2] Middle English mapemounde is from about 1380, in Chaucer.[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century it was common figuratively for “an epitome, a detailed representation of anything”.[2] A chart or table is from 1626,[6] a map of the heavens a related sense,[7] and a diagram of the distribution of anything from 1833.[6] On the map, “prominent, important”, is from 1904.[6] The genetic map is from 1915.[6] The verb, “to make a map of”, is from 1586 in Barnhart,[3] with a figurative use the same year in the OED,[6] and map out figuratively from the 1610s.[2] In mathematics a map is a correspondence between sets.[7] An unrelated map meaning “rabbit” is in the OED from 1416,[6] and in Scots map meant a portrait.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – mapemounde, in Chaucer.[3]
  • 1527 – a map.[3][6]
  • 1586 – verb.[3]
  • 1610s – map out.[2]
  • 1833 – a distribution map.[6]
  • 1904 – on the map.[6]
  • 1915 – a genetic map.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A representation, usually on a flat surface, of an area of the earth or the sky.
  2. A diagram showing the arrangement or distribution of something.
  3. (mathematics) A correspondence between elements of two sets; a function.
  4. (genetics) A diagram of the order of genes on a chromosome.

Verb

  1. To make a map of; to survey an area for a map.
  2. To plan in detail, often with out.
  3. To locate a gene on a chromosome.

Word family

  • mappable
  • mapper
  • maplike
  • remap

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)