trap

Pronunciation

• IPA: /træp/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English trappe, inherited from Old English træppe, treppe “snare, trap”,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *trapjǭ, related to Germanic words for a step or stair, such as Middle Dutch trappe and German Treppe, and to tread;^[2][3][5] it is probably, according to Watkins, “that on or into which one steps”, from PIE *dreb-, an extension of a root Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to run, walk, step”).^[2][3] Old French trape and Spanish trampa “trap, pit” are probably akin, but the relationship is unclear.^[2][4][5] The verb is from the noun or from Old English betræppan.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A device for catching animals: before 1000, in Ælfric's glossaries.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative trap, a snare for people, is from about 1200, first in theology;^[2][6] a trick or deceitful practice from about 1400 in Etymonline and 1681 in Barnhart.^[2][3] The verb, to catch in a trap, is from before 1393, in Gower.^[3][2] A trap door is from about 1385, in Chaucer.^[3] The slang sense “mouth”, as in shut your trap, is by 1776.^[2][6] The wooden instrument used in the game of trapball is from the 1590s, and by 1812 any device for releasing or throwing something suddenly, hence trap-shooting.^[2][6] The U-shaped bend in a drain that keeps gases back is from 1833,^[2] the police speed trap from 1906,^[3][6] and the starting box of a greyhound race from 1928.^[6] A light two-wheeled carriage is a 19th-century sense, perhaps short for rattletrap.^[4] The drums and percussion of a jazz or dance band are traps from 1925, from trap drummer (1903).^[3]

Timeline

• before 1000 – a snare for animals.^[3][6]
• c. 1200 – a snare in the figurative sense.^[2]
• c. 1385 – trap door.^[3]
• before 1393 – to catch in a trap.^[3]
• 1776 – the mouth.^[2]
• 1833 – a drain trap.^[2]
• 1906 – a speed trap.^[3][6]
• 1925 – traps, drums.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A device or pit for catching animals.
2. A trick or plan for catching someone unawares.
3. A U-shaped or S-shaped bend in a drain pipe that holds water to stop gases escaping.
4. A device that throws clay pigeons into the air for shooting.
5. (slang) The mouth: shut your trap.
6. A light two-wheeled carriage.
7. (traps) The drums and other percussion instruments of a band.

Verb

1. To catch in a trap.
2. To trick or force someone into a place or situation they cannot escape from.
3. To hold back gases or liquids, as by a trap.

Word family

• trapper
• traplike
• flytrap
• rattrap
• trapline
• trapshooter
• untrap
• trapdoor

Related words

• entrap
• entrapment
• tread

Usage notes

Trap in trappings, ornamental cloth for a horse, is a different word, an alteration of Old French drap “cloth” (see drape).^[3][5][7] Trap, a dark igneous rock, is from Swedish trapp, from trappa “stair”, from its step-like appearance (1794).^[2][4]

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 l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press