soap

See also: Soap and SOAP

English

Bars of soap

Alternative forms

• sope (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English sope, sape, from Old English sāpe ‎(“soap, salve”), from Proto-Germanic *saipǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *seyp- ‎(“to pour out, drip, trickle, strain”).

Cognate with Scots saip, sape ‎(“soap”), West Frisian sjippe ‎(“soap”), Dutch zeep ‎(“soap”), Low German sepe ‎(“soap”), German Seife ‎(“soap”), Swedish såpa ‎(“soap”), Icelandic sápa ‎(“soap”). Related also to Old English sāp ‎(“amber, resin, pomade, unguent”), Latin sēbum ‎(“tallow, fat, grease”) and sāpō ‎(“soap”). See seep.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /soʊp/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /səʊp/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊp

Noun

soap ‎(countable and uncountable, plural soaps)

1. (uncountable) a substance able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning, often in the form of a solid bar or in liquid form, derived from fats or made synthetically

   I tried washing my hands with soap, but the stain wouldn't go away.‎

2. (chemistry) a metallic salt derived from a fatty acid
3. a flattery or excessively complacent conversation
4. (slang) money, specially when used for bribing purposes
5. (countable, informal) Short for soap opera.
6. (countable, informal) Short for soaper.

References

• The Free Dictionary definitions from various other dictionaries

Derived terms

Terms derived from soap

• dish soap
• hand soap
• laundry soap
• liquid soap
• metallic soap

• no soap
• soap dish
• soap foam
• soap opera
• soap ring

• soap suds
• soapwood
• soapy
• soft soap

See also

• body wash
• shampoo
• shower gel
• wash-ball

Translations

substance

• Abkhaz: асапын ‎(āsāṗən)
• Adyghe: сабын ‎(sābən)
• Afrikaans: seep
• Albanian: sapun (sq) m
• Amharic: ሳሙና ‎(samuna)
• Arabic: صَابُون m ‎(ṣābūn)

  Egyptian Arabic: صابونة f ‎(ṣabūna), صابون m pl ‎(ṣabūn)

• Armenian: օճառ (hy) ‎(ōčaṙ), (colloquial) սապոն (hy) ‎(sapon)
• Aromanian: sãpuni f, sãpune f
• Asturian: xabón m
• Azeri: sabun (az)
• Bashkir: һабын ‎(habïn)
• Basque: xaboi
• Belarusian: мы́ла n ‎(mýla)
• Bengali: সাবান ‎(saban)
• Breton: saon, soavon
• Bulgarian: сапу̀н (bg) m ‎(sapùn)
• Burmese: ဆပ်ပြာ (my) ‎(hcappra)
• Buryat: саван ‎(savan)
• Catalan: sabó (ca) m
• Chamicuro: shawona
• Chechen: саба ‎(saba)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 番鹼, 番碱, 番梘, 番枧 ‎(faan¹ gaan²)

  Hakka: 茶箍 ‎(chhà-kû), 番鹼, 番碱 ‎(fân-kién, fân-kián), 石鹼, 石碱 ‎(sa̍k-kién)

  Mandarin: 肥皂 (zh) ‎(féizào)

  Min Nan: 雪文 ‎(sat-bûn, sap-bûn, sap-mûi) (Zhangzhou, Taiwan), 茶塊 ‎(tê-kóe) (Quanzhou), 茶箍 (zh-min-nan) ‎(tê-kho͘) (Taiwan), 油胰 ‎(iû-i) (Kinmen)

  Hainanese: ^{(please verify)} 差文 ‎(sa2 vun1)

  Teochew: ^{(please verify)} 番鹼, ^{(please verify)} 番碱, ^{(please verify)} 番梘, ^{(please verify)} 番枧 ‎(huan1 giang3)

• Chuvash: супӑнь ‎(supănʹ)
• Crimean Tatar: sabun
• Czech: mýdlo (cs) n
• Dalmatian: sapaun m
• Danish: sæbe (da)
• Dargwa: сапун ‎(sapun)
• Dhivehi: ސައިބޯނި ‎(saibōni)
• Dutch: zeep (nl)
• Erzya: сапонь ‎(saponʹ)
• Esperanto: sapo (eo)
• Estonian: seep (et)
• Faroese: sápa f
• Finnish: saippua (fi)
• French: savon (fr) m
• Friulian: savon m
• Gagauz: sabun
• Galician: xabón m, xabrón (gl) m
• Georgian: საპონი (ka) ‎(saṗoni)
• German: Seife (de) f
• Greek: σαπούνι (el) n ‎(sapoúni)

  Ancient: σάπων m ‎(sápōn)

• Gujarati: સાબુ ‎(sābu)
• Hausa: sabulu
• Hebrew: סַבּוֹן (he) m ‎(sabon)
• Hindi: साबुन (hi) m ‎(sābun)
• Hungarian: szappan (hu)
• Icelandic: sápa (is)
• Ido: sapono (io)
• Indonesian: sabun (id)
• Interlingua: sapon
• Inuktitut: ᐃᕐᒥᐅᑦ ‎(irmiut)
• Irish: gallúnach f, sópa m

  Old Irish: gallúinech

• Italian: sapone (it) m
• Japanese: 石鹸 (ja) ‎(せっけん, sekken), シャボン (ja) ‎(shabon)
• Kabardian: сабын ‎(sābən)
• Kalmyk: савң ‎(savñ)
• Kannada: ಸಾಬೂನು (kn) ‎(sābūnu)
• Karachay-Balkar: сапын ‎(sapın)
• Karakalpak: sabın
• Kashubian: mëdło n
• Kazakh: сабын (kk) ‎(sabın)
• Khakas: сабын ‎(sabın)
• Khmer: សាប៊ូ (km) ‎(sāpū)
• Korean: 비누 (ko) ‎(binu)
• Kumyk: сапун ‎(sapun)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: sabûn (ku) f

  Sorani: سابون ‎(sAboon)

• Kyrgyz: самын (ky) ‎(samın)
• Ladino: shavón m, שאבון m

• Lao: ສະບູ່ (lo) ‎(sa bū)
• Latin: sapo
• Latvian: ziepes f pl
• Lithuanian: muilas (lt) m
• Lojban: zbabu (jbo)
• Lun Bawang: sabun
• Luxembourgish: Seef (lb) f
• Macedonian: сапун m ‎(sapun)
• Malagasy: savony (mg)
• Malay: sabun (ms)
• Malayalam: സോപ്പ് (ml) ‎(sōpp)
• Maltese: sapuna (mt) f
• Manx: sheeabin m
• Maori: hopi
• Marathi: साबण ‎(sābaṇ)
• Middle English: sope
• Mongolian: саван (mn) ‎(savan)
• Nahuatl: āmōlli
• Navajo: táláwosh
• Nepali: सावुन ‎(sāvun)
• Nogai: сабын ‎(sabın)
• Norman: savon m (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: sáibbo, sáibu
• Norwegian: såpe (no), såpa
• Occitan: sabon (oc)
• Old English: sāpe f
• Old High German: seipfa f, seiffa f, seifa f
• Oriya: ସାବୁନ ‎(sābun)
• Osage: wépukxa
• Ossetian: са́пон ‎(sápon)
• Pashto: سابون (ps) m ‎(sābūn)
• Persian: صابون (fa) ‎(sâbun)
• Polish: mydło (pl) n
• Portuguese: sabão (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਸਾਬਣ ‎(sābaṇ)
• Romanian: săpun (ro) n
• Romansch: savun, savung, savùn
• Russian: мы́ло (ru) n ‎(mýlo)
• Samoan: moli (sm)
• Sanskrit: फेनक (sa) n ‎(phenaka)
• Sardinian: sabone, saboni, saoni, sapone
• Saterland Frisian: Seepe f
• Scottish Gaelic: siabann m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сапун m

  Roman: sapun (sh) m

• Shor: сабын ‎(sabın)
• Sicilian: sapuni (scn) m
• Sinhalese: සබන් ‎(saban)
• Slovak: mydlo n
• Slovene: milo (sl) n
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: mydło n

  Upper Sorbian: mydło n

• Sotho: sesepa
• Southern Altai: самын ‎(samın)
• Spanish: jabón (es) m
• Swahili: sabuni (sw)
• Swedish: tvål (sv) c
• Tagalog: sabon
• Tajik: собун (tg) ‎(sobun)
• Tamil: சோப்பு (ta) ‎(cōppu)
• Tatar: сабын (tt) ‎(sabın)
• Telugu: సబ్బు (te) ‎(sabbu)
• Thai: สบู่ (th) ‎(sà-bùu)
• Tigrinya: ሳሙና ‎(samuna)
• Turkish: sabun (tr)
• Turkmen: sabyn
• Tuvan: саваң ‎(savaŋ)
• Ukrainian: ми́ло n ‎(mýlo)
• Urdu: صابن m ‎(sābun)
• Uzbek: sovun (uz)
• Venetian: saon m, savon
• Vietnamese: xà phòng (vi)
• Vilamovian: zaof f
• Volapük: sob (vo)
• Welsh: sebon (cy)
• Yakut: мыыла ‎(mııla)
• Yiddish: זייף f, n ‎(zeyf)
• Yoruba: ọṣẹ

soap opera — see soap opera

Verb

soap ‎(third-person singular simple present soaps, present participle soaping, simple past and past participle soaped)

1. (transitive) To apply soap to in washing.

   Be sure to soap yourself well before rinsing.‎

2. (transitive, informal) To cover, lather or in any other form treat with soap, often as a prank.

   Those kids soaped my windows!‎

3. (transitive, informal) To be discreet about (a topic).
4. (slang, dated) To flatter; to wheedle.

Synonyms

• (to be discreet about): soft soap, sugar soap, soft-pedal, downplay

Translations

apply soap in washing

• Armenian: օճառվել (hy) ‎(ōčaṙvel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: namydlit, mydlit
• Esperanto: sapumi
• Finnish: saippuoida (fi)
• French: savonner (fr), (reflexive) se savonner
• German: einseifen (de)
• Greek: σαπουνίζω (el) ‎(sapounízo)
• Hiligaynon: habon
• Hungarian: szappanoz (hu)

• Italian: insaponare (it), (reflexive) insaponarsi
• Latvian: ziepēt (ieziepēt, saziepēt)
• Lun Bawang: nabun
• Polish: mydlić
• Portuguese: ensaboar (pt)
• Romanian: săpuni (ro)
• Russian: мы́лить (ru) impf ‎(mýlitʹ), намы́лить (ru) pf ‎(namýlitʹ)
• Spanish: enjabonar (es), (reflexive) enjabonarse (es)
• Swahili: sabuni (sw)
• Swedish: tvåla in
• Tagalog: sabon

cover with soap as a prank

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: saippuoida (fi)

• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Swahili: sabuni (sw)

Related terms

• soaper
• saponification

See also

• soap on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• OAPs

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology

Borrowing from English soap.

Noun

soap f ‎(plural soaps, diminutive soapje n)

1. soap opera, soap

Anagrams

• opa's

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French

Etymology

Borrowing from English soap.

Noun

soap m ‎(plural soaps)

1. soap opera, soap

Anagrams

• posa