nep

nep · noun¹

1. Latin · derived fromnepeta
2. Old English · inherited fromnepte
3. Middle English · inherited fromneppe
4. English todaynep

From Middle English neppe, nepe, nepte, nept, from Old English nepte, nefte, from Latin nepeta. Compare Dutch neppe, nippe (“catnip”). Doublet of nepeta.

nep · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gen-“to pinch, squeeze, bend, press together, ball”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gnebʰ-“to press, tighten”
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*knappaz
4. Old Norse · derived fromknappr“knob”
5. Old English · inherited fromcnep
6. Middle English · inherited fromknep
7. English todaynep

Perhaps a variant of nap for knap, from Middle English knep, kneppe, knappe, a conflation of Old English cnep, cnæp, cnæpp (“top, knop, summit”) and Old Norse knappr (“knob”), both from Proto-Germanic *knappaz, *knappô (“knob”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnebʰ- (“to press, tighten”), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- (“to pinch, squeeze, bend, press together, ball”). Compare also Old Norse hnappr (“button”). Related to knob.

nep · noun³

Clipping of nepotist.

Words from the same roots