Meanings
soap1
plural soaps · alternative obsolete sope
- countableuncountablechemistryA metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.
- broadlycountableinformaluncountablechemistrySome other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.
She went to the shop to buy soap, but they had run out.
1 more example
I tried washing my hands with soap, but the stain wouldn't go away.
- countableinformalA soap opera.
present singular third person soaps · participle present soaping · participle past soaped · past soaped
- transitiveTo apply soap to in washing.
Be sure to soap yourself well before rinsing.
- informaltransitiveTo cover, lather, or in any other manner treat with soap, often as a prank.
Those kids soaped my windows!
- informaltransitiveTo be discreet about (a topic).
Synonyms: soft-soap, soft-pedal, sugar soap, downplay
- datedslangTo flatter; to wheedle.
Synonyms: butter up, cajole, sweet-talk, blandander, blandish, butter up, cajole, sweeten
soap2
- slanguncountablethiopental (sodium pentothal)
'Time? Doesn't have much meaning when they're trying to dry you out. I rather think they gave me a shot of soap at one point.' Soap is intelligence speak for sodium pentathol.
2013, John Gardner, James Bond: The John Gardner Years
SOAP3
- abbreviationacronymcomputingAcronym of Simple Object Access Protocol, a standard Internet protocol for exchanging structured information in a distributed environment.
The specified system will use SOAP for message exchange.
- abbreviationacronymuncountablemedicineAcronym of subjective, objective, assessment, and plan.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo be discreet about (a topic).
verbTo flatter; to wheedle.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
soap · noun, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*seyb-?
- Proto-Germanic*saipǭ
- Proto-West Germanic*saipā
- Old Englishsāpe
- Middle Englishsope
- Englishsoap
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans seep
- seepsubstance
Ancient Greek σμῆμα, σμῆγμα
- σμῆμα (smêma)substance
- σμῆγμα (smêgma)substance
- ῥύμμα (rhúmma)substance
- σάπων (sápōn)substance
- σμήχω (smḗkhō)apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Arabic صَابُون, صابونة
- صَابُون (ṣābūn)substance
- صابونة (ṣabūna)substance
- صابون (ṣabūn)substance
Basque xaboi
- xaboisubstance
Bengali সাবান
- সাবান (śaban)substance
Bulgarian сапу́н, сапунисвам
- сапу́н (sapún)substance
- сапунисвам (sapunisvam)apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Catalan sabó, ensabonar
- sabósubstance
- ensabonarapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Chinese йизы, 雪文
- йизы (yizɨ)substance
- 雪文 (sat-bûn, sap-bûn, sap-mûi)substance
- 茶箍 (tê-kho͘)substance
- 油胰 (iû-i)substance
Chinese Cantonese 番鹼 /番碱, 番梘 /番枧
- 番鹼 /番碱 (faan¹ gaan²)substance
- 番梘 /番枧 (faan¹ gaan²)substance
Chinese Mandarin 肥皂, 胰子
- 肥皂 (féizào)substance
- 胰子 (yízi)substance
Czech mýdlo, namydlit
- mýdlosubstance
- namydlitapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
- mydlitapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Danish sæbe
- sæbesubstance
Dari صَابُون
- صَابُون (sābūn)substance
Dutch zeep, zepen
- zeepsubstance
- zepenapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Esperanto sapo, sapumi
- saposubstance
- sapumiapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Estonian seep
- seepsubstance
Finnish saippua, saippuoida
- saippuasubstance
- saippuoidaapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
French savon, savonner
- savonsubstance
- savonnerapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
- se savonnerapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
German Seife, einseifen
- Seifesubstance
- einseifenapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Greek σαπούνι, σαπουνίζω
- σαπούνι (sapoúni)substance
- σαπουνίζω (sapounízo)apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Hawaiian kopa
- kopasubstance
Hebrew סבון \ סַבּוֹן, בּוֹרִית
- סבון \ סַבּוֹן (sabón)substance
- בּוֹרִית (borít)substance
Hindi साबुन
- साबुन (sābun)substance
Hungarian szappan, szappanoz
- szappansubstance
- szappanozapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Icelandic sápa
- sápasubstance
Indonesian sabun
- sabunsubstance
Iranian Persian صابون
- صابون (sâbun)substance
Irish gallúnach, sópa
- gallúnachsubstance
- sópasubstance
Italian sapone, insaponare
- saponesubstance
- insaponareapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
- insaponarsiapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Japanese 石鹸, シャボン
- 石鹸 (sekken)substance
- シャボン (shabon)substance
Korean 비누, 석감
- 비누 (binu)substance
- 석감 (seokgam)substance
- 비누칠하다 (binuchilhada)apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
- 비누질하다 (binujilhada)apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Latin sāpō
- sāpōsubstance
Latvian ziepes, ziepēt (ieziepēt, saziepēt)
- ziepessubstance
- ziepēt (ieziepēt, saziepēt)apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Lithuanian muilas
- muilassubstance
Malay sabun
- sabunsubstance
Māori hopi
- hopisubstance
Norwegian Bokmål såpe
- såpesubstance
Polish mydło, mydlić
- mydłosubstance
- mydlićapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Portuguese sabão, sabonete
- sabãosubstance
- sabonetesubstance
- ensaboarapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Punjabi ਸਾਬਣ
- ਸਾਬਣ (sābaṇ)substance
Romanian săpun, săpuni
- săpunsubstance
- săpuniapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Russian мы́ло, мы́лить
- мы́ло (mýlo)substance
- мы́лить (mýlitʹ)apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
- намы́лить (namýlitʹ)apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Scottish Gaelic siabann
- siabannsubstance
Slovak mydlo
- mydlosubstance
Spanish jabón, sopín
- jabónsubstance
- sopínsubstance
- enjabonarapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
- enjabonarseapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Swahili sabuni, sabuni
- sabunisubstance
- sabuniapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Swedish tvål, såpa
- tvålsubstance
- såpasubstance
- tvåla inapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Tagalog sabon, sabon
- sabonsubstance
- sabonapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Tamil சோப்பு
- சோப்பு (cōppu)substance
Thai สบู่
- สบู่ (sà-bùu)substance
Turkish sabun, sabunlamak
- sabunsubstance
- sabunlamakapply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
Ukrainian ми́ло
- ми́ло (mýlo)substance
Urdu صابُن
- صابُن (sābun)substance
Vietnamese xà phòng, xà bông
- xà phòngsubstance
- xà bôngsubstance
Welsh sebon
- sebonsubstance
Yiddish זייף
- זייף (zeyf)substance
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with soap
Anagrams
Cite this entry
soap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soap
“soap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soap. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “soap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soap.
Source: soap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.