leap English · revision 15147

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gem-pro *hlaupanan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /liːp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|lepen]], [[inh|ang|hlēapan|t=to jump, run, leap]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*hlaupanan]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) cognate with [[ofs|hlāpa|t=to run]], [[osx|hlōpan]], [[nl|lopen]], [[goh|hlouffan]] (modern [[de|laufen|t=to run]]) and [[non|hlaupa|t=to run, leap]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) It has no known cognates outside Germanic,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and Etymonline suggests a substrate word.^(Etymonline) The noun is from [[m|ang|hlȳp|t=a leap, bound]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) [[lope|alt=Lope]] is related.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb: about 725, in Beowulf;^(Barnhart 1988) the Old English verb also meant to run, go or dance.^(Etymonline) The noun, an act of leaping: before 900.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle English lepen is probably from before 1200, in Layamon.^(Barnhart 1988) An abrupt change or sudden transition is a leap from about 1000,^(OED 1989) and a leaping-place from about 1205;^(OED 1989) a ''salmon leap'' is from 1387.^(OED 1989) The transitive sense, to pass over by leaping, is from the early 15th century,^(Etymonline) and the proverb “first look and afterward leap” from the mid-15th.^(Etymonline) ''A leap in the dark'' is from 1698,^(OED 1989) and ''leaps and bounds'' have been paired since 1720.^(Etymonline) Leapfrog is from the 1590s, in Shakespeare's Henry V.^(Etymonline) Leap year is recorded from the 14th century but is probably much older; it probably refers to fixed festivals falling two weekdays later than in the year before.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – to leap (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 900 – a leap (noun).^(OED 1989)

+ * 14th century – leap year.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1387 – salmon leap.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – leapfrog.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1698 – a leap in the dark.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To jump or spring suddenly from one place to another.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move or react quickly, often with ''at''.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD)

+ # To jump over something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make a horse jump a barrier.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To come suddenly to mind: ''the thought leapt into his mind''.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of jumping.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A place jumped from or over, or the distance covered by a jump.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An abrupt change or [[transition]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[leaper]]

+ * [[outleap]]

+ * [[overleap]]

+ * [[leapfrog]]

+ * [[leap day]]

+ * [[leap second]]

+ * [[leap year]]

+ * [[quantum leap]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lope]]

+ * [[elope]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The past tense is leapt or leaped.^(Collins 2023)^(Roach et al. 2011) An obsolete leap, a basket, is a separate word, from [[ang|lēap]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}