apron

A1 Topic:Clothing & Appearance

US /ˈeɪ.pɹən/ UK /ˈeɪ.pɹən/ See IPA manual

Freq #9942

Meanings

1

noun
A piece of clothing worn over the front of your clothes to keep them clean, especially when cooking.

She tied an apron around her waist before making dinner.
2

noun
A hard, flat area at an airport where planes are parked.

The plane was parked on the airport apron.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms apronedaprons

Derived forms apronedaproneerapronfulapronlessapronlikebeapronedunaproned

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

apron string
a cord used to fasten an apron around the waist

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

In Middle English, what is now called an apron was a naperon, a word derived from Old French nape or nappe “tablecloth.” Speakers reinterpreted a naperon as an apron, causing the initial n to disappear.

Etymology

Rebracketing of napron (a napron → an apron), from Middle English naperoun, napron, apron, from Old French napperon, diminutive of nappe (“tablecloth”), from Latin mappa (“napkin”). For other similar cases of rebracketing, see adder, daffodil, newt, nickname, orange, trickle, umpire.

naperoun Middle English napperon Old French mappa Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Clothing & Appearance Aviation & Flight

External links

# apron

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈeɪ.pɹən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈeɪ.pɹən/
**Frequency rank:** 9942

## Meanings
1. A piece of clothing worn over the front of your clothes to keep them clean, especially when cooking.
2. A hard, flat area at an airport where planes are parked.

## Examples
- She tied an apron around her waist before making dinner.
- The plane was parked on the airport apron.

## Derived Forms
- aproned
- aproneer
- apronful
- apronless
- apronlike
- beaproned
- unaproned

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: naperoun
- Root: napperon
- Root: mappa

## Etymology
Rebracketing of napron (a napron → an apron), from Middle English naperoun, napron, apron, from Old French napperon, diminutive of nappe (“tablecloth”), from Latin mappa (“napkin”). For other similar cases of rebracketing, see adder, daffodil, newt, nickname, orange, trickle, umpire.

## AI Etymology
Rebracketing of napron (a napron → an apron), from Middle English naperoun, napron, apron, from Old French napperon, diminutive of nappe (“tablecloth”), from Latin mappa (“napkin”). For other similar cases of rebracketing, see adder, daffodil, newt, nickname, orange, trickle, umpire.

## Topics
- Clothing & Appearance
- Aviation & Flight

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