Lappen

Meaning

1. (masculine,strong) cloth, rag
2. (masculine,strong) lobe
3. (colloquial,masculine,strong) driving licence
4. (masculine,strong) loser; idiot

Concepts

rag

shred

cloth

patch

lobe

rags

tatter

clout

scrap

cloth

clip

clouts

collar

flap

handkerchief

lobes

buckle

Synonyms

Fetzen

Lumpen

Flicken

Führerschein

Putzlappen

Tuch

Banknote

Geldschein

Note

Papiergeld

Pappe

Schein

Wischlappen

Wischtuch

Führerausweis

Putztuch

Rausch

Feudel

Taschentuch

Frosch

🐸

Tücher

Fleppe

Hautfetzen

Fahrausweis

Fahrerlaubnis

Flügel

🪽

Hautlappen

Klamotten

Kleid

👗

Lobus

Hader

Bügel

🙇

Patch

Kfz-Führerschein

Dialects

Aargau

blätz

Aargau

hoddu

Basel-Landschaft

huudel

Basel-Landschaft

lumpe

Basel-Landschaft

nyggotyynhoobel

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈlapən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German: lappe

Inherited from Old High German: lappo

Cognate with Old Saxon: lappo

In summary

From Middle High German lappe, from Old High German lappo, from Proto-West Germanic *lappā (“cloth, rag, lobe”) of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”).
The form is remarkable because of the unshifted geminate -pp- (instead of expected Old High German *lapfo). Based on the supposedly invariable nature of the consonant shift, lappo would have to be an originally Central and Low German form (compare Old Saxon lappo). This is, however, quite unlikely since the Old High German word is attested as early as the 9th century, and no variants with -pf- exist. The form remains thus unexplained.