yap

Etymology

The noun and the verb are probably imitative of a small dog's sharp bark;^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the OED calls them echoic and compares yawp.^[7] Klein compares yelp as well,^[8] and Etymonline the verb yamph of 1718 and wappen (“to bark, bay”) of the mid-15th century, also thought to be imitative.^[5] Skeat and Weekley compared French japper (“to yelp”).^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A dog that barks sharply, a yapping dog: 1603, in C. Heydon's Defence of Judiciall Astrologie.^[7][3][4] The verb, to bark sharply, follows in 1668, first implied in yapping.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

At first the word referred only to dogs: the noun to the dog itself, later to its bark (from 1826, in Charles Lamb), and the verb to its barking.^[7][5][4] The verb came to mean to speak snappishly (1864) and then to chatter idly or loudly (by 1886 in Etymonline, 1888 in the OED, where it was originally dialect);^[7][5] Green's Dictionary of Slang records yap for a snarling, testy manner of speech as early as 1823.^[11] The noun followed for idle talk (1907) and a chat (1930).^[7] In American slang yap became the mouth, recorded by the OED from 1900, as in shut your yap,^[7][5] but Green's Dictionary of Slang has the form yop in this sense from 1833.^[11] In dialect and American slang a yap was also a fool or a country bumpkin, from about 1894.^[7][12] Wright's English Dialect Dictionary records it across Scotland, Ireland and England, with forms such as yep, yip and yop.^[13]

Timeline

• 1603 – a dog that barks sharply.^[7][4]
• 1668 – to bark sharply, as a small dog; to yelp.^[7][4]
• 1823 – of people, to speak in a snarling, testy way.^[11]
• 1826 – a short, sharp bark or cry.^[7][4]
• 1833 – the mouth, in American slang, in the form yop.^[11] The OED's first record is from 1900.^[7][5]
• 1888 – to talk idly or loudly; to chatter.^[7] Etymonline dates this sense to 1886.^[5]
• c. 1894 – a fool or an unsophisticated person.^[7]
• 1907 – idle or noisy talk; chatter.^[7]
• 1930 – a chat.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of a dog, to bark in short, shrill bursts; to yelp: The terrier yapped at every passing bicycle.^[12][14][7]
2. (informal) To talk at length in a shrill, annoying or foolish way; to chatter or scold.^[12][14][7]

Noun

1. A short, sharp bark; a yelp.^[12][14][7]
2. (slang) The mouth: Keep your yap shut.^[12][14][7]
3. (slang) Shrill, idle or annoying talk; chatter.^[12][14][7]
4. (slang) An unsophisticated or foolish person; a bumpkin.^[12][7][15]

Word family

• yapper
• yappingly

Related words

• yawp
• yelp

Usage notes

The OED has a separate Yap, an acronym of young aspiring professional recorded from 1984 and compared with yuppie.^[7] Scots and northern English also had an adjective yap, clever, eager or hungry, recorded from late Middle English and explained by the Shorter Oxford as an alteration of yepe;^[15][13] Wright also records dialect nouns yap for an impudent child and for a foolish person.^[13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b c 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)
14. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press