Etymologically
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tape

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /teɪp/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tape, tappe, inherited from Old English tæppa, tæppe (“narrow strip of cloth”),[2][3][4] a word of uncertain origin.[2][5] It is probably related to Old Frisian tapia and Middle Low German tapen “to pull, pluck, tear”,[3][4][6] while Klein suggested a back-formation from Latin tapēte “cloth, carpet”.[2] The lengthening of the vowel in Middle English is unexplained, perhaps by mistaken analogy with taper.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A narrow woven strip of linen or cotton used for tying or measuring: about 1000 in the OED and Barnhart, in Ælfric.[7][3]

Semantic evolution

A tape stretched across the finish of a race is from 1867.[2][7] A thin flexible strip of metal for measuring, and the paper ribbon of a telegraph receiver (ticker tape), are from 1884,[7][3] adhesive tape from 1885,[2] and tape measure from 1873.[2][3] Magnetic tape for recording sound is from 1932,[7][3] and a recording on tape from about 1946.[7] The verb, to furnish with tape, is from 1609 (about 1600 in Etymonline),[3][4][2] to fasten with adhesive tape from 1932, and to make a tape recording by 1950.[2][3] In army slang a tape is an NCO's chevron, from 1943.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – a strip of cloth.[7][3]
  • 1609 – verb, to furnish with tape.[3]
  • 1867 – the finishing tape.[2][7]
  • 1884 – ticker tape.[7][3]
  • 1932 – magnetic tape.[7][3]
  • 1950 – to tape-record.[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A long narrow strip of plastic with a sticky side, used to fasten things.
  2. A narrow strip of strong cloth, used in sewing or tying.
  3. Magnetic tape, or a cassette or recording made on it.
  4. A tape measure.
  5. A string stretched across the finishing line of a race.

Verb

  1. To record sounds or pictures on tape.
  2. To fasten or wrap something with tape.

Word family

  • tapeable
  • tapeless
  • tapelike
  • taper

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 m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  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. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press