soap

See also: Soap and SOAP

English

Bars of soap

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /soʊp/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /səʊp/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -əʊp

Etymology 1

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”). 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.

Noun

soap (countable and uncountable, plural soaps)

(chemistry) A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.
(countable, uncountable, informal, by extension) Some other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.
I tried washing my hands with soap, but the stain wouldn't go away.
(slang) Money, specially when used as a bribe.
(countable, informal) A soap opera.
(countable) A solid masonry unit or brick reduced in depth or height from standard dimensions.

Alternative forms

sope (obsolete)

Derived terms

bile soap
carbolic soap
Castile soap
curd soap
dish soap
docusoap
don't drop the soap
drop the soap
glass soap
hand soap
hard soap
hospital soap
Joe Soap
know from a bar of soap
laundry soap
liquid soap
lithium soap
mahogany soap
marine soap
Marseille soap
metallic soap
mountain soap
Nabulsi soap
no soap
resoap
rock soap
saddle soap
saltwater soap
sandsoap
shave soap
shaving soap
soap acacia
soapbark
soapberry
soapbox
soap boy
soap brick
soapcurd
soap dish
soap dodger
soapery
soap film
soap flake
soap foam
soapland
soaplock
soapmaker
soapmaking
soapman
soapnut
soap opera
soap-operatic
soap pad
soap pan
soap plant
soap ring
soaprock
soaproot
soap scum
soapstar
soapstock
soapstone
soapsuds
soap test
soaptree
soapweed
soapwood
soapworks
soapwort
soapy
sodium soap
soft soap
stainless steel soap
sugar soap
sulfur soap
sulphur soap
supersoap
Venice soap
wash one's brain out with soap
Windsor soap

Descendants

Sranan Tongo: sopo
Tok Pisin: sop
→ Ajië: yööpö
→ Bemba: isopo
→ Burmese: ဆပ်ပြာ (hcappra)
- → Shan: သပ်ႉပျႃႇ (sâ̰p pjàa)
→ Chichewa: sopo
→ Dutch: soap
→ French: soap
→ German: Soap
→ Irish: sópa
→ Malayalam: സോപ്പ് (sōppŭ)
→ Maori: hopi
→ Marshallese: joob
→ Palauan: sob
→ Pohnpeian: sohpw
→ Tamil: சோப்பு (cōppu)
→ Teribe: söp
→ West Uvean: sop
→ Xârâcùù: söpö

Translations

substance

Abkhaz: асапын (asapʼən)
Acehnese: sabôn
Adyghe: сабын (saabən)
Afrikaans: seep (af)
Aklanon: habon
Albanian: sapun (sq) m
Amharic: ሳሙና (samuna)
Arabic: صَابُون‎ m (ṣābūn)
Egyptian Arabic: صابونة‎ f (ṣabūna), صابون‎ m pl (ṣabūn)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܨܦܘܢܐ‎ m (ṣappōnā)
Armenian: օճառ (hy) (ōčaṙ), (colloquial) սապոն (hy) (sapon)
Aromanian: sãpuni f, sãpune f
Assamese: চাবোন (sabün)
Asturian: xabón (ast) m
Avar: сапун (sapun)
Azerbaijani: sabun (az)
Bashkir: һабын (habın)
Basque: xaboi
Belarusian: мы́ла n (mýla)
Bengali: সাবান (bn) (saban)
Breton: saon, soavon
Bulgarian: сапу́н (bg) m (sapún)
Burmese: ဆပ်ပြာ (my) (hcappra)
Buryat: саван (savan)
Catalan: sabó (ca) m
Chamicuro: shawona
Chechen: саба (saba)
Cherokee: ᎣᎳ (ola), ᎣᏝ (otla)
Chichewa: sopo
Chinese:
Cantonese: 番鹼／番碱, 番碱, 番梘／番枧 (yue), 番枧 (faan¹ gaan²)
Dungan: йизы (yizɨ)
Gan: 肥皂 ('fi⁴ cau⁵)
Hakka: 茶箍 (chhà-kû), 番鹼／番碱, 番碱 (fân-kién, fân-kián), 石鹼／石碱, 石碱 (sa̍k-kién), 番鹼／番碱
Jin: 肥皂 (fei¹ zau³)
Mandarin: 肥皂 (zh) (féizào)
Min Bei: 胰仔 (ǐ-ciě)
Min Dong: 胰皂 (ì-cô̤)
Min Nan: 雪文 (sat-bûn, sap-bûn, sap-mûi), 茶箍 (zh-min-nan) (tê-kho͘) (Taiwan), 油胰 (iû-i) (Kinmen)
Hainanese: ^{(please verify)} 差文 (sa¹ vun⁶, sa² vun⁶)
Teochew: 餅藥／饼药, 饼药 (pian² ioh⁸, pian² iêh⁸)
Wu: 肥皂 (bi zau)
Xiang: 肥皂 (fei² zau⁵)
Chukchi: муԓемуԓ (muḷemuḷ)
Chuvash: супӑнь (sup̬ănʹ)
Crimean Tatar: sabun
Czech: mýdlo (cs) n
Dalmatian: sapaun m
Danish: sæbe (da) c
Dargwa: сапун (sapun)
Dhivehi: ސައިބޯނި‎ (saibōni)
Dutch: zeep (nl) f
Elfdalian: twål m
Erzya: сапонь (saponʹ)
Esperanto: sapo (eo)
Estonian: seep (et)
Faroese: sápa f
Finnish: saippua (fi)
French: savon (fr) m
Friulian: savon m
Gagauz: sabun
Galician: xabón (gl) m, xabrón (gl) m
Georgian: საპონი (ka) (saṗoni)
German: Seife (de) f
Greek: σαπούνι (el) n (sapoúni)
Ancient: σμῆμα n (smêma), σμῆγμα n (smêgma), ῥύμμα n (rhúmma), (Koine) σάπων m (sápōn)
Greenlandic: qaqorsaat
Gujarati: સાબુ (sābu)
Hausa: sabulu
Hawaiian: kopa
Hebrew: סבון \\ סַבּוֹן‎ (he) m (sabón)
Hindi: साबुन (hi) m (sābun)
Hungarian: szappan (hu)
Hunsrik: Seif f
Icelandic: sápa (is) f
Ido: sapono (io)
Indonesian: sabun (id)
Ingush: сапа (sapa)
Interlingua: sapon
Inuktitut: ᐃᕐᒥᐅᑦ (irmiot)
Irish: gallúnach f, sópa m
Old Irish: gallúinech
Italian: sapone (it) m
Japanese: 石鹸 (ja) (せっけん, sekken), シャボン (ja) (shabon)
Jarai: ia čơƀu
Kabardian: сабын (saabən)
Kalmyk: савң (savng)
Kannada: ಸಾಬೂನು (kn) (sābūnu)
Karachay-Balkar: сапын (sapın)
Karakalpak: sabın
Kashubian: mëdło n
Kazakh: сабын (kk) (sabyn)
Khakas: сабын (sabın)
Khmer: សាប៊ូ (km) (saabuu)
Komi-Permyak: майтöг (majtög)
Korean: 비누 (ko) (binu), 석감(石鹼) (seokgam)
Kumyk: сапун (sapun)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: سابون‎ (sabun)
Northern Kurdish: sabûn (ku) f
Kyrgyz: самын (ky) (samın)
Ladino: shavón m, שאבון‎ m
Lao: ສະບູ່ (lo) (sa bū)
Latin: sāpō m
Latvian: ziepes f pl
Lezgi: запун (zapun)
Lithuanian: muilas (lt) m
Lombard: savon, savun
Low German:
German Low German: Seep f
Lun Bawang: sabun
Luxembourgish: Seef (lb) f
Macedonian: сапун m (sapun)
Maguindanao: sabun
Malagasy: savony (mg)
Malay: sabun (ms)
Malayalam: സോപ്പ് (ml) (sōppŭ)
Maltese: sapuna (mt) f
Manx: sheeabin m
Maori: hopi
Maranao: sabon
Marathi: साबण (sābaṇ)
Middle English: sope
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: саван (mn) (savan)
Mongolian: ᠰᠠᠪᠤᠩ (sabuŋ)
Nahuatl: āmōlli
Nanai: мэлэ
Navajo: táláwosh
Nepali: सावुन (sāwun)
Nogai: сабын (sabın)
Norman: savon m (Jersey)
Northern Sami: sáibbo, sáibu
Norwegian:
Bokmål: såpe (no) m or f
Nynorsk: såpe f
Occitan: sabon (oc) m
Old English: sāpe f
Old High German: seipfa f, seiffa f, seifa f
Oriya: ସାବୁନ (sabunô)
Oromo: saamunaa
Osage: wépukxa
Ossetian: сапон (sapon)
Ottoman Turkish: صابون‎ (sabun)
Papiamentu: habon
Pashto: سابون‎ (ps) m (sābūn)
Persian: صابون‎ (fa) (sâbun)
Piedmontese: savon m
Plautdietsch: Seep f
Polish: mydło (pl) n
Portuguese: sabão (pt) m, sabonete (pt) m (bath soap)
Punjabi: ਸਾਬਣ (pa) (sābaṇ)
Rakhine: သပုန် (sa.pum)
Rohingya: sabon
Romagnol: savôn m
Romanian: săpun (ro) n
Romansch: savun, savung, savùn
Russian: мы́ло (ru) n (mýlo)
Samoan: moli (sm)
Sanskrit: फेनक (sa) n (phenaka)
Sardinian: sabone, saboni, saoni, sapone
Saterland Frisian: Seepe f
Scottish Gaelic: siabann m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: са̀пӯн m
Roman: sàpūn (sh) m
Seychellois Creole: savon
Shan: သပ်ႉပျႃႇ (sâ̰p pjàa)
Shor: сабын (sabın)
Sicilian: sapuni (scn) m
Sinhalese: සබන් (saban)
Slovak: mydlo (sk) n
Slovene: milo (sl) n
Somali: saabuun
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: mydło n
Upper Sorbian: mydło n
Sotho: sesepa
Southern Altai: самын (samïn)
Southern Ohlone: hawun
Spanish: jabón (es) m, sopín m (Louisiana)
Swahili: sabuni (sw)
Swedish: tvål (sv) c, såpa (sv) c
Tabasaran: сябун (sjabun)
Tagalog: sabon
Tai Dam: ꪎꪱꪡ꫁ꪮꪉ
Tajik: собун (tg) (sobun)
Tamil: சோப்பு (ta) (cōppu)
Tatar: сабын (tt) (sabın)
Telugu: సబ్బు (te) (sabbu)
Tetum: sabaun
Thai: สบู่ (th) (sà-bùu)
Tigrinya: ሳሙና (samuna)
Tongan: koa
Turkish: sabun (tr)
Turkmen: sabyn
Tuvan: саваң (savañ)
Udmurt: майтал (majtal)
Ukrainian: ми́ло n (mýlo)
Urdu: صابن‎ m (sābun)
Uyghur: سوپۇن‎ (sopun)
Uzbek: sovun (uz)
Venetian: saon (vec) m, savon
Vietnamese: xà phòng (vi), xà bông (vi)
Vilamovian: zaof f
Volapük: sob (vo)
Welsh: sebon (cy) m
Western Bukidnon Manobo: savun
Wolof: saabu (wo)
Yakut: мыыла (mııla)
Yami: siken
Yiddish: זייף‎ f or n (zeyf)
Yoruba: ọṣẹ
Zhuang: yangzgenj, genj

soap opera — see soap opera

References

The Free Dictionary definitions from various other dictionaries
Soaping Masonry

Verb

soap (third-person singular simple present soaps, present participle soaping, simple past and past participle soaped)

(transitive) To apply soap to in washing.
Be sure to soap yourself well before rinsing.
(transitive, informal) To cover, lather or in any other form treat with soap, often as a prank.
Those kids soaped my windows!
(transitive, informal) To be discreet about (a topic).
(slang, dated) To flatter; to wheedle.

Synonyms

(to be discreet about): soft soap, sugar soap, soft-pedal, downplay

Translations

apply soap in washing

Armenian: օճառվել (hy) (ōčaṙvel)
Bulgarian: сапунисвам (sapunisvam)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: namydlit, mydlit
Dutch: zepen (nl)
Esperanto: sapumi (eo)
Finnish: saippuoida (fi)
French: savonner (fr), (reflexive) se savonner
Galician: enxaboar (gl)
German: einseifen (de)
Greek: σαπουνίζω (el) (sapounízo)
Ancient: σμήχω (smḗkhō)
Hiligaynon: habon
Hungarian: szappanoz (hu)
Italian: insaponare (it), (reflexive) insaponarsi
Latvian: ziepēt (ieziepēt, saziepēt)
Lun Bawang: nabun
Polish: mydlić (pl)
Portuguese: ensaboar (pt)
Romanian: săpuni (ro)
Russian: мы́лить (ru) impf (mýlitʹ), намы́лить (ru) pf (namýlitʹ)
Spanish: enjabonar (es), (reflexive) enjabonarse (es)
Swahili: sabuni (sw)
Swedish: tvåla in
Tagalog: sabon
Turkish: sabunlamak (tr)
Venetian: insaonar (vec)

cover with soap as a prank

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: saippuoida (fi)
Russian: please add this translation if you can
Swahili: sabuni (sw)

Related terms

soaper
saponification

Noun

soap (uncountable)

(slang) sodium pentothal
- 2013, John Gardner, James Bond: The John Gardner Years
  '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.

Anagrams

AOPs, AOSP, OAPs, OSAP, PAOs, Paos, Paso, SOPA, Sapo, poas, sapo-

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English soap. Doublet of zeep.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /soːp/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: soap
Rhymes: -oːp

Noun

soap f (plural soaps, diminutive soapje n)

soap opera

Anagrams

opa's

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English soap.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sop/

Noun

soap m (plural soaps)

soap opera

Anagrams

posa