soap
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: chemistry
geography
geology
mineralogy
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *seyb-?
Proto-Germanic *saipǭ
Proto-West Germanic *saipā
Old English sāpe
Middle English sope
English soap
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”), Finnish saippua (“soap”), Finnish suopa (“soft 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.
Inflected forms:
form: soaps
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: sope
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: soaps
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: soaping
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: soaped
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: soaped
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Some other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
countable
informal
uncountable
examples: I tried washing my hands with soap, but the stain wouldn't go away.
She went to the shop to buy soap, but they had run out.
gloss: Money, specially when used as a bribe.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
gloss: A soap opera.
pos: noun
tags: countable
informal
gloss: A solid masonry unit or brick reduced in depth or height from standard dimensions.
pos: noun
tags: countable
gloss: To apply soap to in washing.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Be sure to soap yourself well before rinsing.
gloss: To cover, lather, or in any other manner treat with soap, often as a prank.
pos: verb
tags: informal
transitive
examples: Those kids soaped my windows!
gloss: To be discreet about (a topic).
pos: verb
tags: informal
transitive
gloss: To flatter; to wheedle.
pos: verb
tags: dated
slang
Related words: body wash
shampoo
shower gel
wash-ball
soaper
saponification
Derived words: Aleppo soap
bar soap
bile soap
body soap
carbolic soap
Castile soap
curd soap
dish soap
docusoap
don't drop the soap
drop the soap
facial soap
ghar soap
glass soap
green soap
hand soap
handsoap
hard soap
hospital soap
household soap
Joe Soap
know from a bar of soap
laundry soap
laurel soap
liquid soap
lithium soap
mahogany soap
marine soap
Marseille soap
Marseilles soap
mercury soap
metallic soap
mountain soap
Nabulsi soap
nonsoap
no soap
oatmeal soap
paste soap
poor man's soap
potassium soap
quicksilver soap
rock soap
saddle soap
saltwater soap
sandsoap
shave soap
shaving soap
soap acacia
soapball
soap bar
soapbark
soapberry
soapbloom
soap box
soapbox
soap boy
soap brick
soap bubble
soapcurd
soapdish
soap dish
soap dispenser
soap dodger
soap-dodging
soapdom
soapen
soapery
soap film
soapfish
soap flake
soapflake
soap foam
soap gourd
soapie
soapify
soapland
soapless
soapless soap
soaplike
soaplock
soapmaker
soapmaking
soapman
soapmonger
soap night
soapnut
soap opera
soap-operatic
soap pad
soap pan
soap plant
soap ring
soaprock
soaproot
soap scum
soap shaker
soapstar
soapstock
soapstone
soapsuds
soap suds
soap test
soaptree
soap tree
soap up
soapweed
soapwell
soapwood
soapworker
soapworks
soapwort
soapy
sodium soap
soft soap
soft-soap
Spanish soap
stainless steel soap
sugar soap
sulfur soap
sulphur soap
supersoap
Syrian soap
uglier than homemade soap
Venetian soap
Venice soap
wash one's brain out with soap
Windsor soap
yellow soap
resoap
soap down
soap off
unsoaped
Translations: