lap

English Online Dictionary. What means lap‎? What does lap mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /læp/
• Rhymes: -æp

Etymology 1

From Middle English lappe, from Old English læppa (“skirt or flap of a garment”), from Proto-Germanic *lappô (“cloth; rag”), of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”). Cognate with Dutch lap (“cloth; rag”), German Lappen (“cloth; lobe; flap”), Icelandic leppur (“rag; patch”).

Noun

lap (plural laps)

1. The loose part of a coat; the lower part of a garment that plays loosely; a skirt; an apron.
2. An edge; a border; a hem, as of cloth.
3. The part of the clothing that lies on the knees or thighs when one sits down; that part of the person thus covered.
4. (figuratively) A place of rearing and fostering.
5. The upper legs of a seated person.

6. (archaic, euphemistic) The female pudenda. [17th century]
7. (engineering) A component that overlaps or covers any portion of itself or of an adjacent component.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

lap (third-person singular simple present laps, present participle lapping, simple past and past participle lapped)

1. (transitive) To enfold; to hold as in one's lap; to cherish.
2. (transitive) To rest or recline in someone's lap, or as in a lap.

References

Etymology 2

From Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap”) from earlier wlappen (“to fold, wrap”), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”).

Cognate with Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind”), Old Italian goluppare (“to wrap, fold up”) (from Germanic). Doublet of wrap. Also related to envelop, develop.

The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) is from this sense.

Verb

lap (third-person singular simple present laps, present participle lapping, simple past and past participle lapped or (archaic) lapt)

1. (transitive) To fold; to bend and lay over or on something.

2. (transitive) to wrap around, enwrap, wrap up
3. (transitive) to envelop, enfold

4. (intransitive) to wind around
5. (transitive) To place or lay (one thing) so as to overlap another.

7. (transitive) To polish (a surface, especially metal or gemstone) with very fine abrasive to achieve smoothness and small dimensional changes.

   Hypernym: cut

   Coordinate term: grind

8. (intransitive) To be turned or folded; to lie partly on or over something; to overlap.
9. (transitive, sports, motor racing) To overtake a straggler in a race by completing one more whole lap than the straggler.

   Antonym: unlap

10. To cut or polish with a lap, as glass, gems, cutlery, etc.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

lap (plural laps)

1. The act or process of lapping.
2. That part of any substance or fixture which extends over, or lies upon, or by the side of, a part of another.

3. The state or condition of being in part extended over or by the side of something else; or the extent of the overlapping.

4. The amount by which a slide valve at its half stroke overlaps a port in the seat, being equal to the distance the valve must move from its mid stroke position in order to begin to open the port. Used alone, lap refers to outside lap (see below).
5. (sports) One circuit around a race track.
6. (swimming) The traversal of one length of the pool, or (less commonly) one length and back again.

7. In card playing and other games, the points won in excess of the number necessary to complete a game;—so called when they are counted in the score of the following game.
8. A sheet, layer, or bat, of cotton fiber prepared for the carding machine.
10. A piece of brass, lead, or other soft metal, used to hold a cutting or polishing powder in cutting glass, gems, etc. or in polishing cutlery or in toolmaking. It is usually in the form of a wheel or disk that revolves on a vertical axis.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English lappen, from Old English lapian, from Proto-Germanic *lapōną, *lapjaną (“to lick; lap”), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *leh₂b- (“to lap, lick”); akin to Old High German laffen (“to lick”), Old Norse lepja, Danish labe, Old Saxon lepil, German Löffel (“spoon”). Cognate with Latin lambere (“lick”). French lamper is a loanword from German. Compare Danish leffe, dialect German läffeln.

Verb

lap (third-person singular simple present laps, present participle lapping, simple past and past participle lapped or (archaic) lapt)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To take (liquid) into the mouth with the tongue; to lick up with a quick motion of the tongue.
2. (intransitive, of water) To wash against a surface with a splashing sound; to swash.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

lap (countable and uncountable, plural laps)

1. The taking of liquid into the mouth with the tongue.
2. (obsolete, slang, uncountable) Liquor; alcoholic drink.

References

• John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary

Further reading

• “laper”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• Brachet, A. (1873) “laper”, in Kitchin, G. W., transl., Etymological dictionary of the French language (Clarendon Press Series), 1st edition, London: Oxford/MacMillan and Co.

Etymology 4

Noun

lap (plural laps)

1. (medicine, colloquial) Clipping of laparoscopy.
2. (medicine, colloquial) Clipping of laparotomy.

Derived terms

• ex-lap

Adjective

lap (not comparable)

1. (medicine, colloquial) Clipping of laparoscopic.

Derived terms

• lap choly

See also

• lap cheong

Anagrams

• ALP, APL, LPA, PAL, PLA, Pal, Pla, alp, pal

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch lap, from Middle Dutch lap, from Old Dutch lap.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lap/

Noun

lap (plural lappe, diminutive lappie)

1. A patch, a rag, a piece of cloth.
2. A plot, a tract (of ground).

Derived terms

• lappieskombers

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *lapa. An onomatopoeic cognate to Greek λάπτω (lápto, “to lick”), Lithuanian lapth (“to swallow greedily”), Proto-Slavic *lopati (“to eat greedily”), and the like. Compare Italian allappare, Sicilian allippari.

Verb

lap (aorist lapa)

1. to slurp, lap up

Derived terms

• lëpij
• lëpis

References

Azerbaijani

Etymology

From Middle Mongol ᠯᠠᠪ (lab). Compare Mongolian лав (lav, “clearly, actually, surely, evidently”).

Pronunciation

Adverb

lap

1. even (emphasizing a comparative or superlative)

   Lap yaxşı! ― Even better!

2. very
3. downright, right, immediately, directly used to emphasize the following phrase

   dənizin lap kənarında ― right at the seashore

Usage notes

Determiner

lap

1. very (the same; identical) (especially when used with həmin)

   lap həmin dəqiqə ― the very minute

   lap vaxtında ― at the right time

References

Further reading

• “lap” in Obastan.com.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑp/
• Hyphenation: lap
• Rhymes: -ɑp

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch lap, lappe, from Old Dutch lap, from Proto-Germanic *lappa-, *lappô (“rag, cloth”), of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”). Cognate with German Lappen.

Noun

lap m (plural lappen, diminutive lapje n)

1. A rag, a piece of cloth.
2. A patch, a piece of cloth.
3. A slice of meat.
4. A plot, a tract (of ground).

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: lap
• Negerhollands: lap
• → Caribbean Javanese: lap
• → Indonesian: lap
• → Papiamentu: lapi

See also

• (rag): vod

References

Etymology 2

Probably from sense 1, which dialectically meant "blow, strike" and evolved into "stupidity." Or, possibly from an original sense of "lap up," referring to sloppy children, for which see English lap.

Noun

lap m (plural lappen, diminutive lapje n)

1. (obsolete, except in compounds) A bloke, dude, bum; especially a drunk or objectionable one.

Derived terms

Further reading

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “lap2”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Interjection

lap

1. (chiefly Belgium) exclamation of dismay, disappointment

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lap

1. inflection of lappen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

Anagrams

• pal

Hungarian

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *lappɜ (“flat surface”), either directly or as a back-formation from lapos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɒp]
• Hyphenation: lap
• Rhymes: -ɒp

Noun

lap (plural lapok)

1. sheet (thin, flat piece of any solid material)
2. sheet (piece of paper, usually rectangular, that has been prepared for writing, printing or other uses)

   Synonyms: ív, papírlap
3. (proscribed, archaic) page (one side of a written or printed paper sheet)

   Synonym: oldal
4. newspaper, magazine, periodical (publication issued regularly)

   Hyponyms: hírlap, újság, folyóirat, magazin
5. greeting card, postcard (decorated card made of thick paper that is sent or given to someone)

   Hyponyms: üdvözlőlap, képeslap, levelezőlap
6. playing card (one piece out of a pack of cards used to play games)

   Synonym: kártyalap
7. (computing) page (one of many documents opened in a tabbed interface)
8. (geometry) face (any of the flat bounding surfaces of a polyhedron)

   Synonym: (a less technical term in this sense) oldal
9. (in the possessive) top (the flat, horizontal surface of a table or desk)

   Synonym: asztallap
10. (in the possessive) flat (flat side of something, as opposed to the edge)

Declension

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• lap in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlap̚]
• Hyphenation: lap

Etymology 1

From Dutch lap, from Middle Dutch lap, lappe, from Old Dutch lap, from Proto-Germanic *lappa-, *lappô (“rag, cloth”), of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”).

Noun

lap (plural lap-lap, first-person possessive lapku, second-person possessive lapmu, third-person possessive lapnya)

1. a rag, a piece of cloth.

Etymology 2

From English lap, from Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap”) from earlier wlappen (“to fold, wrap”), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”).

Noun

lap (plural lap-lap, first-person possessive lapku, second-person possessive lapmu, third-person possessive lapnya)

1. lap:
   1. one circuit around a race track, or

      Synonym: putaran

   2. one traversal down and then back the length of a pool

Further reading

• “lap” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Middle High German loup, from Old High German loup, from Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą (“leaf”). Cognate with German Laub, English leaf.

Noun

lap n

1. leaf

References

• “lap” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Phalura

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lap/

Adverb

lap (Perso-Arabic spelling لپ)

1. quickly
2. soon

Alternative forms

• lab

References

• Liljegren, Henrik, Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[12], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Scots

Verb

lap

1. simple past tense of leap

Alternative forms

• leapit

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English laugh.

Noun

lap

1. laughter

Verb

lap

1. to laugh