Etymology
1. Etymology tree
2. Proto-Indo-European *seyb-?
3. Proto-Germanic *saipǭ
4. Proto-West Germanic *saipā
5. Old English sāpe
6. Middle English sope
7. English soap
8. 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”).
9. 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. See: Frisian, Saterlandic 'Seepe', Danish '
sæbe', Swedish '
såpa', Norwegian '
såpe', Norwegian, nynorsk '
såpe', Faroese '
sápa', Icelandic '
sápa', Finnish with old forms '
saippua', Latin '
sāpō'.
Verbs referencing "soap"
Tok Pisin sopim, German, Pennsylvania
seefe.