soap
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soap¹
- /soʊp/ US
- /səʊp/ UK
Rhymes with -əʊp
Where it comes from
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”), 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.
noun soaps · sope
- A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.
- 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.
- Money, specially when used as a bribe.
- A soap opera.
- A solid masonry unit or brick reduced in depth or height from standard dimensions.
verb soaps · soaping · soaped
- To apply soap to in washing. Be sure to soap yourself well before rinsing.
- To cover, lather, or in any other manner treat with soap, often as a prank. Those kids soaped my windows!
-
To be discreet about (a topic).
Similar: soft-soap, soft-pedal, sugar soap, downplay
-
To flatter; to wheedle.
Similar: butter up, cajole, sweet-talk, blandander, blandish, sweeten, fast-talk, canoodle, carny, coax, collogue, croodle
soap²
- /soʊp/ US
- /səʊp/ UK
Rhymes with -əʊp
Where it comes from
Probably an abbreviation of sodium pentothal.
noun
- thiopental (sodium pentothal) '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.
SOAP³
- /soʊp/ US
- /səʊp/ UK
Rhymes with -əʊp
proper noun
- Acronym of Simple Object Access Protocol, a standard Internet protocol for exchanging structured information in a distributed environment. The specified system will use SOAP for message exchange.
noun
- Acronym of subjective, objective, assessment, and plan.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: lather, suds, detergent, bath, bathhouse, laundry, bar, syrup, soup, slope, marshmallow, melodrama, series, know, cleanser, surfactant
Translations
Every language
noun substance
| Español | jabón, sopín |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 비누 binu, 석감 seokgam |
| 日本語 | 石鹸 sekken, シャボン shabon |
| 中文 | 肥皂 féizào, 胰子 yízi |
| हिन्दी | साबुन sābun |
| Kiswahili | sabuni |
| Português | sabão, sabonete |
| Français | savon |
| Deutsch | Seife |
| Italiano | sapone |
| Ελληνικά | σαπούνι sapoúni |
| Română | săpun |
| Русский | мы́ло mýlo |
| Tiếng Việt | xà phòng, xà bông |
| العربية | صَابُون ṣābūn |
| עברית | סבון \ סַבּוֹן sabón, בּוֹרִית borít |
verb apply soap in washing / cover with soap as a prank
| Español | enjabonar, enjabonarse |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 비누칠하다 binuchilhada, 비누질하다 binujilhada |
| Kiswahili | sabuni |
| Português | ensaboar |
| Français | savonner, se savonner |
| Deutsch | einseifen |
| Italiano | insaponare, insaponarsi |
| Ελληνικά | σαπουνίζω sapounízo |
| Română | săpuni |
| Русский | мы́лить mýlitʹ, намы́лить namýlitʹ |
Talk about this word "soap." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/soap. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. soap. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/soap "soap." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/soap.Cite this
@misc{soap_2026,
title = {soap},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/soap},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
