nappy

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ˈnæpi/ UK /ˈnæpi/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a baby's diaper; or (of hair) tightly curled and frizzy

She changed the baby's nappy before putting him down for his nap.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a baby's diaper; or (of... diaperfrizzykinkycurly fuzzy knotty

Opposites

straight smooth sleek

Word family

Related forms napnappiness

Simplified etymology

Nappy arose in the early 20th century as a shortening of napkin. Napkin itself ultimately comes from Old French nape or nappe “tablecloth.”

Etymology

From nap ('the raised pile or fuzzy surface of cloth', from Middle Dutch noppe, 'down, tuft') plus -y; the British 'diaper' sense is a diminutive of napkin.

noppe Middle Dutch

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# nappy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈnæpi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈnæpi/

## Meanings
1. a baby's diaper; or (of hair) tightly curled and frizzy

## Examples
- She changed the baby's nappy before putting him down for his nap.

## Synonyms
- diaper
- frizzy
- kinky
- curly
- fuzzy
- knotty

## Antonyms
- straight
- smooth
- sleek

## Related Forms
- nap
- nappiness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: noppe

## Etymology
From nap ('the raised pile or fuzzy surface of cloth', from Middle Dutch noppe, 'down, tuft') plus -y; the British 'diaper' sense is a diminutive of napkin.

## AI Etymology
Nappy comes from nap ('the raised pile or fuzzy surface of cloth', from Middle Dutch noppe, 'down, tuft') plus -y; the British 'diaper' sense is a diminutive of napkin. The suffix is part of the word's derivational shape, marking the final grammatical or semantic role while the base supplies the central meaning. As a noun and adjective, it denotes "a baby's diaper; or (of hair) tightly curled and frizzy", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Middle Dutch noppe. Related words include nap, nappiness.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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