CS Knowledge Base

• IPA^(key): /sæp/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æp

From Middle English sap, from Old English sæp (“juice, sap”), from Proto-West Germanic *sap (“sap, juice”) (compare Dutch sap, German Saft, Icelandic safi), from Proto-Indo-European *sab-, *sap- (“to taste”) (compare Welsh syb-wydd (“fir”), Latin sapa (“must, new wine”), Russian со́пли (sópli, “snivel”), Old Armenian համ (ham, “taste”), Avestan 𐬬𐬌-𐬱𐬁𐬞𐬀 (vi-šāpa, “having poisonous juices”), Sanskrit सबर् (sabar, “juice, nectar”)). More at sage.

sap (“naive person”) is a clipping of sapskull (literally “person with sap in their skull”).^[1]

sap (countable and uncountable, plural saps)

1. (uncountable) The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition.
2. (uncountable) The sapwood, or alburnum, of a tree.
3. Any juice.
4. (figurative) Vitality.
   • 1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 183:

     In the preceding centuries the Ashkenazic Synagogue song had been Germanized to a degree that jeopardized not only its distinctive Jewishness but its very existence. In Eastern Europe, on the other hand, the ever-renewed Oriental sap penetrated also into the song.

5. (slang, countable) A naive person; a simpleton.

   Synonyms: milksop, saphead

   Look at the sap mowing our lawn while we pretend our own lawnmower is broken.

   • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 234:

     "Or trying to reproduce it."
     "The Mafia wouldn't do that."
     "Don't be a sap," Hiro says. "Of course they would."
     Y.T. seems miffed at Hiro.

   • 1997, “Don't Look Down”, in Curtains, performed by Tindersticks:

     She said I'm such a sap, I'm such a jerk / Can't I ever forget the way that we are / Spend all your time with your eyes on the ground / Looking for the stars

sap (third-person singular simple present saps, present participle sapping, simple past and past participle sapped)

1. (transitive, figurative) To exhaust the vitality of.
   • 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 6:

     Somewhat he knoweth of art magical, yet useth not that art; for it sappeth the life and strength, nor is it held worthy that a Demon should put trust in that art, but rather in his own might and main.

   • 2022 April 12, Neil Johnston, “Real Madrid 2-3 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     While Tuchel will be delighted with the way his players responded, there will be concern at how much the energy-sapping 120 minutes has taken out of them.

   • 2025 June 8, Jonathan Jurejko, “Alcaraz stuns Sinner in extraordinary French Open final”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     Alcaraz flew out of the blocks in the first-to-10 match tie-break of the deciding set, sapping every last bit of Sinner's energy before sealing victory with a remarkable running forehand winner that fizzed down the line.

2. (transitive) To drain, suck or absorb sap from (a tree, etc.).

From French saper (compare Spanish zapar and Italian zappare) from sape (“sort of scythe”), from Late Latin sappa (“sort of mattock”).

The sense evolution of from “subvert by digging” to “weaken” was influenced by the sense above “drain wood of sap” as trench warfare receded from public conscience.

sap (third-person singular simple present saps, present participle sapping, simple past and past participle sapped)

1. (transitive) To make unstable or infirm; to unsettle; to weaken.
   • 1850, Alfred Tennyson, Ring, Out, Wild Bells:

     Ring out the grief that saps the mind […]

2. (transitive) To gradually drain (someone's energy or vitality).

   to sap one’s conscience

   He saps my energy.

3. (transitive, military) To pierce with saps.
4. (transitive) To subvert by digging or wearing away; to mine; to undermine; to destroy the foundation of.
   • 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     Nor safe their dwellings were, for sapped by floods, / Their houses fell upon their household gods.

   1. (intransitive) To proceed by mining, or by secretly undermining; to execute saps.

sap (plural saps)

1. (military) A narrow ditch or trench made from the foremost parallel toward the glacis or covert way of a besieged place by digging under cover of gabions, etc.

Probably from sapling.

sap (plural saps)

1. (countable, US, slang) A short wooden club; a leather-covered hand weapon; a blackjack.
   • 1944, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep (screenplay)

     I risk my whole future, the hatred of the cops and Eddie Mars' gang. I dodge bullets and eat saps.

sap (third-person singular simple present saps, present participle sapping, simple past and past participle sapped)

1. (transitive, slang) To strike with a sap (with a blackjack).
   • 1944, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep (screenplay)

     [A]s he passes the mouth of a narrow alley two men step out quickly. One of them saps Marlowe expertly — they drag him out of sight.

   • 1964, Raymond Chandler, Killer in the Rain:

     And when he had me up there he would sap me again and I wouldn't remember anything that happened in between the two sappings.

• SPA, APS, PAS, Spa, APs, PsA, spa, asp, pas, Pas, PSA, ASP, SpA, PAs, Psa.

• sapu, tsap, tsapu

From Vulgar Latin *sappō, from Latin sappa. Compare Romanian săpa, sap, French saper, Italian zappare, Sicilian zappari, Spanish zapar, Friulian sapâ, Venetan sapar, Latin sappa.

sap (participle sãpatã)

1. to dig (with a pick)

• tãrchescu
• arãm

From Proto-Turkic *sap-.

sap (definite accusative sapı, plural saplar)

1. thread

   Synonym: ip

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

sap (definite accusative sapı, plural saplar)

1. grip, hilt

• “sap” in Obastan.com.

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈsap]
• Rhymes: -ap

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• sab (obsolete)

Back-formation from cepell.

sap m (plural saps)

1. common heather

   Synonyms: bruguerola, bronsa

sap

1. third-person singular present indicative of saber

• “sap”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

From Middle Dutch sap, from Old Dutch *sap, from Proto-West Germanic *sap.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /sɑp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sap
• Rhymes: -ɑp

sap n (plural sappen, diminutive sapje n)

1. juice

   Hyponyms: aalbessensap, appelsap, citroensap, druivensap, sinaasappelsap, vruchtensap

2. sap (fluid in plants)

• Afrikaans: sap
• Negerhollands: sap
• → Indonesian: getah (semantic loan)

• pas

For pronunciation and definitions of sap – see 圾 (“garbage; rubbish; clod”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 圾).

For pronunciation and definitions of sap – see 屑 (“bits; scraps; crumbs; fragments; trifling; trivial; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 屑).

For pronunciation and definitions of sap – see 雪 (“snow; to snow; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 雪).

For pronunciation and definitions of sap – see 霎 (“instant; moment; short; fleeting; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 霎).

For pronunciation and definitions of sap – see 歃 (“to drink; to suck; to smear on the mouth; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 歃).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsap/ [ˈsap̚]
• Rhymes: -ap
• Syllabification: sap

Unknown

sap (plural sap-sap)

1. paper or scraps that can absorb ink
2. sheets of shredded tobacco stacked into a staple

sap (plural sap-sap)

1. alternative spelling of saf

• “sap”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

From Sanskrit सर्प (sarpa).

sap ?

1. snake

• Eric Anonby; Hassan Mohebi Bahmani (2014), “Shipwrecked and Landlocked: Kholosi, an Indo-Aryan Language in South-west Iran”, in Cahier de Studia Iranica xx‎^[3], pages 13-36

• saape, saappe, sape, sapp, sappe, zep
• sæp, sæpp (Early Middle English)

From Old English sæp, from Proto-West Germanic *sap, from Proto-Indo-European *sep-.

• IPA^(key): /sap/, /saːp/

sap (uncountable)

1. sap (plant juices)
2. sapwood (wood under bark)
3. (rare) earwax

• English: sap
• Scots: sap, saup

• “sā̆p(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

From Proto-West Germanic *saipu, from Proto-Germanic *saipō (“resin”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *seyp- (“to pour, sile, flow, drip”).

• IPA^(key): /sɑːp/
• Rhymes: -ɑːp

sāp f

1. amber, resin
2. pomade

Strong ō-stem:

• sāpe
• sīpian

• ⇒? Middle English: eresap, eresope (“earwax”)

• IPA^(key): /ˈsap/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ap
• Syllabification: sap

sap

1. second-person singular imperative of sapać

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀲𑀧𑁆𑀧 (sappa), from Sanskrit सर्प (sarpá). Cognate with Punjabi ਸੱਪ (sappa, “snake”).

sap m (plural sapa)

1. snake

   Kana sas anθ-o veś, jekh sap dandardǎs man.

   While I was in the woods, a snake bit me.

• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “sap”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 766
• Yaron Matras (2002), “Historical and linguistic origins”, in Romani: A Linguistic Introduction‎^[4], Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 40
• Yūsuke Sumi (2018), “sap, ~a”, in ニューエクスプレスプラス　ロマ（ジプシー）語 [New Express Plus Romani (Gypsy)] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Hakusuisha, published 2021, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 154

• IPA^(key): [sap]

sap

1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of săpa

From Proto-Turkic *sap. Cognate to Azerbaijani, Gagauz, Turkish, and Turkmen sap, etc.

• (Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): /sɑpʰ/
• (Ili, Xinjiang) IPA^(key): /sɨpʰ/

sap (3rd person possessive sabı, plural saplar)

1. handle, knob
2. petiole, pedicel

• saplağusı

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976), “sap”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow: Nauka, page 474
• 林莲云 [Lin Lianyun] (1992), “sap”, in 撒拉汉汉撒拉词汇 [Salar-Chinese, Chinese-Salar Vocabulary], 成都 [Chéngdū]: 四川民族出版社, →ISBN, page 58
• Yakup, Abdurishid (2002), “sap”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon‎^[5], Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 160

• sāp

Borrowed from Malay cap.

• (Sinūgan Parianun) IPA^(key): /sap/ [ˈsap̚]
• Rhymes: -ap
• Syllabification: sap

sap (Sulat Sūg spelling سَفْ)

1. seal; stamp
2. brand

   Synonym: jinama ( Malaysia)

From Ottoman Turkish صاپ (sap, “handle; stalk; hair”), from Proto-Turkic *sap (“handle”). Cognate with Old Turkic [script needed] (sap).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑp/

sap

1. (slang) not having a significant other

sap (definite accusative sapı, plural saplar)

1. handle
2. stem, stalk
3. (slang) penis
4. (slang) male

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

sap

1. second-person singular imperative of sapmak

From Proto-Finnic *sappi.

sap

1. bile, gall

Inflection of sap (inflection type 2/kodi)
nominative sing.	sap
genitive sing.	sapin
partitive sing.	sapid
partitive plur.	sapid
	singular	plural
nominative	sap	sapid
accusative	sapin	sapid
genitive	sapin	sapiden
partitive	sapid	sapid
essive-instructive	sapin	sapin
translative	sapikš	sapikš
inessive	sapiš	sapiš
elative	sapišpäi	sapišpäi
illative	sapihe	sapihe
adessive	sapil	sapil
ablative	sapilpäi	sapilpäi
allative	sapile	sapile
abessive	sapita	sapita
comitative	sapinke	sapidenke
prolative	sapidme	sapidme
approximative I	sapinno	sapidenno
approximative II	sapinnoks	sapidennoks
egressive	sapinnopäi	sapidennopäi
terminative I	sapihesai	sapihesai
terminative II	sapilesai	sapilesai
terminative III	sapissai	—
additive I	sapihepäi	sapihepäi
additive II	sapilepäi	sapilepäi

Borrowed from Latin sapiō (“to be wise”).

• IPA^(key): /sɑːp/

sap

1. wisdom

• sapik

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /θaːp˧˥/
• Tone numbers: sab⁷
• Hyphenation: sap

From Proto-Tai *saːpᴰ (“cockroach”). Cognate with Thai สาบ (sàap), Lao ສາບ (sāp), Shan သၢပ်ႇ (sàap), Bouyei saabt.

sap (Sawndip form 𫊷, 1957–1982 spelling sap)

1. cockroach

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

sap (1957–1982 spelling sap)

1. to wear shoes with the heels stepping down on the back of the shoes