Etymologically
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trap

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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
  • 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