nap

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈnæp/ UK /næp/ See IPA manual

Homophones

knap /næp/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like knop /æ/ vs /ɑ/

Freq #4474

Meanings

1

noun
A short sleep, usually during the day.

I took a nap after lunch.
2

verb
To sleep for a short time, especially during the day.

The baby naps for an hour every afternoon.
3

noun
The soft, fuzzy surface of a fabric, made of short raised fibres.

If the fabric has a nap, cut all the pieces in the same direction.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a short sleep, usually... catnapforty winkssnooze

2 verb · to sleep for a short time,... catnapdoze

Word family

Forms nappednappingnaps

Derived forms nap-at-noonnap-of-the-earthnaplessnappynapsterovernap

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

short nap
a brief period of sleep, usually during the day

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English nap (“a bowl”), from Old English hnæpp (“a cup, bowl”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnapp, from Proto-Germanic *hnappaz (“a cup, bowl”). Cognate with Dutch nap (“drinking cup”), Low German Napp (“bowl, cup”), German Napf (“bowl”), Icelandic hnappur (“button, key”). Doublet of hanap. See also nappy.

nap Middle English hnæpp Old English *hnapp frk *hnappaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# nap

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈnæp/
**IPA (UK):** /næp/
**Frequency rank:** 4474

## Meanings
1. A short sleep, usually during the day.
2. To sleep for a short time, especially during the day.
3. The soft, fuzzy surface of a fabric, made of short raised fibres.

## Examples
- I took a nap after lunch.
- The baby naps for an hour every afternoon.
- If the fabric has a nap, cut all the pieces in the same direction.

## Derived Forms
- nap-at-noon
- nap-of-the-earth
- napless
- nappy
- napster
- overnap

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: nap
- Root: hnæpp
- Root: *hnapp
- Root: *hnappaz

## Etymology
From Middle English nap (“a bowl”), from Old English hnæpp (“a cup, bowl”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnapp, from Proto-Germanic *hnappaz (“a cup, bowl”). Cognate with Dutch nap (“drinking cup”), Low German Napp (“bowl, cup”), German Napf (“bowl”), Icelandic hnappur (“button, key”). Doublet of hanap. See also nappy.

## AI Etymology
Nap comes from Middle English nap (“a bowl”), from Old English hnæpp (“a cup, bowl”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnapp, from Proto-Germanic *hnappaz (“a cup, bowl”). Cognate with Dutch nap (“drinking cup”), Low German Napp (“bowl, cup”), German Napf (“bowl”), Icelandic hnappur (“button, key”). Doublet of hanap. In present-day English its meanings include a short sleep, usually during the day, to sleep for a short time, especially during the day, and the soft, fuzzy surface of a fabric, made of short raised fibres. The historical chain runs through nap (Middle English), hnæpp (Old English), *hnapp (Proto-West Germanic), and *hnappaz (Proto-Germanic). Related and derived forms include nap-at-noon, nap-of-the-earth, and napless.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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nap