rap

The common rap, a blow, and the slang rap, to talk, are one word, but rap, the least bit, comes from the name of a counterfeit Irish coin.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹæp/^[3]

rap¹ blow, talk

Etymology

It is Middle English rappe, probably of imitative origin (compare clap, flap, slap),^[4][1][5][2] but much like Swedish rapp, Norwegian rapp and Danish rap, a light blow, which may suggest a Scandinavian source.^[1][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A quick, light blow: about 1300 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline;^[1][4] a blow, 1340–70 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to strike, is from the mid-14th century.^[4] A sharp knock, as on a door, is from 1637.^[7] To utter sharply, let off an oath, is from 1541.^[1][4] A rebuke is first recorded in 1777 in American English,^[1][7] and a rap on the knuckles is associated with rebuke from the end of the 18th century.^[6] A criminal charge is American slang from 1903, and a prison sentence (take the rap, beat the rap) from 1927.^[1][4] British slang rap, to say, is from 1879,^[1] and informal talk is from 1898 in British English.^[1] To talk or chat is from 1929, in Damon Runyon, and was popularized about 1965 in African-American speech, possibly by way of Caribbean English.^[1][4] The rhythmic speech of rap music was New York slang by 1979.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a light blow.^[1]
• 1541 – to utter sharply.^[1]
• 1777 – a rebuke.^[1]
• 1903 – a criminal charge.^[1]
• 1929 – to chat.^[1]
• 1979 – rap music.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A quick, light blow or knock, or its sound.
2. A reprimand, or (slang) the blame or punishment for something: take the rap.
3. (slang) A criminal charge or prison sentence.
4. A style of popular music with rhythmic, rhyming speech over a beat.

Verb

1. To strike or knock sharply.
2. To say sharply: to rap out orders.
3. To criticize or blame.
4. (slang) To talk freely; to perform rap.

Word family

• rapper
• rapping
• rap sheet

rap² least bit

Etymology

It was the name of a counterfeit coin used in 18th-century Ireland for a halfpenny,^[1][2] of uncertain origin in Barnhart,^[1] an abbreviation of Irish ropaire in Hoad.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A counterfeit Irish halfpenny: 1724, in Swift's Drapier's Letters.^[1]

Semantic evolution

A coin of the smallest value, the smallest amount of money, is from Byron's Don Juan (1823), alluding to Swift.^[1] The least bit, as in not to care a rap, is from 1834.^[1][2]

Timeline

• 1724 – the counterfeit coin.^[1]
• 1823 – the smallest amount of money.^[1]
• 1834 – not care a rap.^[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (informal) The least bit: not care a rap.

Related words

• clap
• slap
• rapt

Usage notes

A further rap, to snatch or to carry away in ecstasy, is a back-formation from rapt.^[5][8] In Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon dialect a rap was a thin strip of land.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ 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)