Etymology

sappy

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Today it means: Excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy. (British equivalent: soppy) Full definition →

Middle English sappy ← Old English sæpiġ
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sappy · adjective1

  1. Old English · inherited fromsæpiġ“full of sap, succulent”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromsappy
  3. English todaysappy

From Middle English sappy, sapy, from Old English sæpiġ (“full of sap, succulent”), equivalent to sap + -y. Cognate with West Frisian sappig (“juicy”), Dutch sappig (“juicy, succulent”), Middle High German saffic, seffec ("juicy, succulent"; > German saftig), Danish saftig (“juicy”), Swedish saftig (“juicy”). Doublet of zaftig.

sappy · adjective2

Compare Latin sapere (“to taste”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.