nep

N1E1P3
/nɛp/

noun

Catmint, catnip; Nepeta cataria.

Less commonScrabble 5

Meanings

nep1

nounnep (usually uncountable, plural neps)

plural neps · alternative dialectal nip

  1. uncountableusuallyCatmint, catnip; Nepeta cataria.

    Nep is generally used for women to procure their courses, being taken inwardly or outwardly, either alone or with other convenient herbs in a decoction to bathe them, of sit over the hot fumes thereof.

    1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio, published 2007, page 201

nep2

nounnep (plural neps)

plural neps

  1. A knot in a fibre.

    The neps appear as small dense areas or spots when compared to the surrounding fibers.

    1987, Paula Simmons, Spinning and weaving with wool, published 1977, →ISBN, page 130
verbnep (third-person singular simple present neps, present participle nepping, simple past and past participle nepped)

present singular third person neps · participle present nepping · participle past nepped · past nepped

  1. UKdialectalintransitiveOf cotton: to form knots.

nep3

nounnep (plural neps)

plural neps

  1. USderogatoryslangOne who engages in nepotism, usually to the one who benefits from it.

NEP4

proper noun
  1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of New Economic Policy.
  2. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of National Energy Program.
  3. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of National Election Pool.
  4. UKabbreviationinitialismgovernmentInitialism of North East Party.
noun
  1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of noise-equivalent power.
  2. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of nanosatellite engineering professional.
  3. USabbreviationinitialismgovernmentInitialism of non-English proficient.

Nep5

nounNep (plural Neps)

plural Neps

  1. derogatoryethnicinformaloffensiveslurNepali

    Nepali job. Hundred and one per cent a Nep job. You've seen some of the crime they're responsible for. I tell you, these guys are fucking crazy. […] Ninety-nine per cent of this kind of crime, at least in Delhi, is done by Neps.

    2013, Aatish Taseer, The Temple Goers

Origin

nep · noun

  1. Latinnepeta
  2. Old Englishnepte
  3. Middle Englishneppe
  4. Englishnep

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

Full word history & related roots →

nep · noun, verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gen-“to pinch, squeeze, bend, press together, ball”
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gnebʰ-“to press, tighten”
  3. Proto-Germanic*knappaz
  4. Old Norseknappr“knob”
  5. Old Englishcnep
  6. Middle Englishknep
  7. Englishnep

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.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with nep

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

nep. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nep

MLA

“nep.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nep. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nep,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nep.

Source: nep on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.