Meanings
tapas1
singular tapa
- pluralplural normallyA variety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks such as croquettes, cured meat, potato salad, and seafood, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well.
The snacks are called tapas because in the old days a piece of toast was served, too, so that you might have a "top" on your glass of sherry, a lid that would prevent the flies from getting into the glass.
1986, Jeff Smith, “The Tapas Buffet (Spain)”, in The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 881 more example
Most food scholars agree that the tapas tradition originated in the wine-growing regions of Andalusia, eventually spreading throughout the country. The Moors (Muslim Arabs), who dominated Spain from the beginning of the eighth century until the end of the fifteenth century, settled in the same area, and their meze tradition undoubtedly had an influence on the rise of the tapa.
2013, Joyce Goldstein, “Introduction”, in Tapas: Sensational Small Plates from Spain, San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, →ISBN, page 8
tapas2
- HinduismJainismuncountable(The practice of) asceticism and self-discipline.
tapas3
- pluralplural of tapa
Origin
tapas · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*deh₂p-“to lose; to sacrifice”
- Proto-Germanic*tappô“plug; tap”
- Gothic*𐍄𐌰𐍀𐍀𐌰
- Spanishtapas
- Englishtapas
From Spanish tapas, the plural of tapa (“appetizer, tapa; cap, lid (cover of a container)”) (from the fact that plates of tapas were originally placed on the tops of glasses of alcoholic beverages as lids), from Gothic *𐍄𐌰𐍀𐍀𐌰 (*tappa), from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“plug; tap”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to lose; to sacrifice”). Doublet of tap.
More words from Spanish, Gothic, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →tapas · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*tep-“to be warm or hot”
- Sanskritतप्“heat; to be hot”
- Englishtapas
From Sanskrit तप् (tap, “heat; to be hot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tep- (“to be warm or hot”). Related to tepid.
More words from Sanskrit, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bengali তপস
- তপস (topoś)(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Bulgarian тапас
- тапас (tapas)variety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Catalan tapes
- tapesvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Chinese Mandarin 塔帕斯, 苦行
- 塔帕斯 (tǎpàsī)variety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
- 苦行 (kǔxíng)(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Czech tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Danish tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Dutch tapas, tapa's
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
- tapa'svariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Finnish tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
French tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Greek μεζές
- μεζές (mezés)variety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Hebrew טאפס
- טאפסvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Hindi तप
- तप (tap)(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Hungarian tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Japanese タパス, 苦行
- タパスvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
- 苦行 (kugyō)(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Korean 타파스
- 타파스 (tapaseu)variety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Norwegian Bokmål tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Polish tapas, tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
- tapas(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Portuguese tapas, petiscos
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
- petiscosvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Russian та́пас, та́пас
- та́пас (tápas)variety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
- та́пас (tápas)(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Spanish tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Swedish tapas
- tapasvariety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
Tamil தவம்
- தவம் (tavam)(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Thai ตบะ
- ตบะ (dtà-bà)(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Ukrainian та́пас, та́пас
- та́пас (tápas)variety of Spanish small savoury food items or snacks, originally served with sherry and now often with other alcoholic beverages as well
- та́пас (tápas)(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tapas. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tapas
“tapas.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tapas. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tapas,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tapas.
Source: tapas on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.