Etymology

clap

C3L1A1P3

Today it means: The act of striking the palms of the hands, or any two surfaces, together. Full definition →

Middle English clappen ← Old English clæppan ← Proto-West Germanic *klappijan
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

clap · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*klappōną“to clap”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*klappijan
  3. Old English · inherited fromclæppan
  4. Middle English · inherited fromclappen
  5. English todayclap

From Middle English clappen, from Old English clæppan, *clappian, from Proto-West Germanic *klappijan, *klappōn, from Proto-Germanic *klappōną (“to clap”). Cognate with Dutch klappen, Icelandic klappa, Faroese klappa and Danish klappe.

clap · noun2

  1. Old French · derived fromclapoir“bubo, inflammation from infection”
  2. English todayclap

Uncertain. Probably from Old French clapoir (“bubo, inflammation from infection”), from clapier (“brothel”). May also be from old, unsafe treatments for gonorrhea, such as clapping the penis between a book and a hard surface to break up obstructions in the urethra and permit urination. Attested from the 16th century.

Words from the same roots

Proto-West Germanic*klappijan all →

clep

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.