soap

Pronunciation

• IPA: /səʊp/ (UK); /soʊp/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English sope, inherited from Old English sāpe (“soap, salve”),^[2][3][4] from West Germanic *saipō,^[5][2] source also of Dutch zeep and German Seife,^[2][3] perhaps from PIE Proto-Indo-European *seyb- (“to pour out, drip”), also perhaps the source of Latin sebum (“tallow”).^[3][4] Late Latin sapo, first mentioned by Pliny as a hair dye, is a Germanic loanword and gave French savon and Italian sapone.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A substance of oils or fats combined with alkali, used for washing: about 1000.^[6][2] Etymonline says it was anciently a reddish hair dye used by Germanic warriors.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to rub with soap, is from 1585.^[2][4] Flattery is from 1853–54, compare soft soap,^[3][6] and money, especially for bribery, is American slang from 1860.^[6] No soap, a refusal or failure, is from 1926.^[6] The soap opera, a radio or television serial, is American, from 1939, named after the soap manufacturers who sponsored early programmes,^[2] and is shortened to soap.^[7][8] The soapbox is recorded from 1660.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – soap.^[6][2]
• 1585 – to soap (verb).^[2]
• 1660 – soapbox.^[2]
• 1853 – flattery.^[3]
• 1926 – no soap.^[6]
• 1939 – soap opera.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A substance used with water for washing and cleaning, made of natural oils or fats combined with an alkali.
2. (informal) A soap opera.

Verb

1. To wash or rub with soap.

Word family

• soapless
• soaplike
• soapfish
• sandsoap
• soapbark
• soapberry
• soapbox
• soapstone

Related words

• soaper
• saponification
• soapy
• soap opera
• saponify
• sebum

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press