soap

Signification

Noun

1. A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.
2. (informal) Some other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.
3. (slang) Money, specially when used as a bribe.
4. (informal) A soap opera.
5. A solid masonry unit or brick reduced in depth or height from standard dimensions.

Verb

1. To apply soap to in washing.
2. (informal) To cover, lather, or in any other manner treat with soap, often as a prank.
3. (informal) To be discreet about (a topic).
4. (slang) To flatter; to wheedle.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/soʊp/

Étymologie

From Middle English sope, sape, from Old English sāpe (“soap, salve”), from Proto-West Germanic *saipā, from Proto-Germanic *saipǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *seyp- (“to pour out, drip, trickle, strain”).
Cognate with Scots saip, sape (“soap”), Saterland Frisian Seepe (“soap”), West Frisian sjippe (“soap”), Dutch zeep (“soap”), German Low German Seep (“soap”), German Seife (“soap”), Danish sæbe (“soap”), Swedish såpa (“soap”), Norwegian Bokmål såpe (“soap”), Norwegian Nynorsk såpe (“soap”), Faroese sápa (“soap”), Icelandic sápa (“soap”). Related also to Old English sāp (“amber, resin, pomade, unguent”), Latin sēbum (“tallow, fat, grease”). See seep. Latin sāpō (“soap”) is a borrowing from the Germanic.