loop English · revision 6182

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1390}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /luːp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English loupe, of uncertain or unknown origin.^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)^(Etymonline) The OED and Barnhart favour a Celtic source (compare [[gd|lùb|t=loop, bend]] and [[ga|lúb]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998) perhaps blended with a borrowing of [[non|hlaup|t=a leap, run]] (see [[leap]]);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) MWU compares [[dum|lupen|t=to lie in wait, peer]].^(MWU 2024) Hoad notes that the sense of an opening in a wall, as in [[loophole]], matches Anglo-Latin loupa, of unknown origin, and that it is not certain the words are the same.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fold or doubling of a string, rope or cloth: probably about 1390 in ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'',^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline, about 1400 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A ring or curved piece of metal used as a fastening is from 1674–91,^(OED 1989) and anything loop-shaped, a line on paper or a bend of a river, from 1668.^(OED 1989) In anatomy the loop of Henle in the kidney is named from 1846,^(OED 1989) and in a fingerprint a loop is from 1880.^(Etymonline) A railway or telegraph line that leaves the main line and rejoins it is a later use.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) A loop of magnetic tape or film is first recorded in 1931,^(Etymonline) and in computer programming a sequence of instructions executed repeatedly from 1947.^(Etymonline) The verb meant to draw a leash through a ring about 1400,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and to form loops from 1832;^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) to ''loop the loop'' (1900) was first said of roller coasters.^(Etymonline) ''Looped'', drunk, is slang from 1934.^(Etymonline) ''In the loop'', informed, and ''out of the loop'' are later colloquial uses.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1390 – a doubled length of rope or cloth.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – the verb, to draw through a ring.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1668 – a loop-shaped thing.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1880 – a loop in a fingerprint.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1900 – loop the loop.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1931 – a loop of tape.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1947 – a loop in programming.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A length of string, wire or the like that curves round and crosses itself, leaving an opening.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something with a circular or curved shape or path.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A circular [[manoeuvre]] in which an aircraft flies upside down at the top.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(computing)'' A set of [[instruction|alt=instructions]] repeated until a condition is met.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A closed electric circuit.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To form into a loop, or to fasten or encircle with a loop.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move in a loop; to fly an aircraft in a loop.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[looper]]

+ * [[loopy]]

+ * [[unloop]]

+ * [[loophole]]

+ * [[loop-the-loop]]

+ * [[interloop]]

+ * [[Varley loop]]

+ * [[closed loop]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[leap]]

+ * [[loupe]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In South African English loop is Afrikaans, “walk!”, from Dutch lopen.^(SOED 2002) In founding a loop was a soft mass of wrought iron, now rare (see [[loupe]]).^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}