soap

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See also: Soap and SOAP

English[edit]

A bar of soap

Alternative forms[edit]

sope (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

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”). See seep.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

soap (countable and uncountable, plural soaps)

(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.
(countable, informal) A soap opera.

Derived terms[edit]

terms derived from soap (noun)

See also[edit]

Translations[edit]

substance

Abkhaz: асапын (āsāṗən)
Afrikaans: seep
Albanian: sapun
Arabic: صابون m (ṣābūn)

Egyptian Arabic: صابونة f (ṣabūna), صابون m pl (ṣabūn)
Armenian: օճառ (hy) (ōčaṙ), (colloquial) սապոն (sapon)
Aromanian: sãpune
Asturian: xabón m
Azeri: sabun (az)
Bashkir: һабын (habïn)
Basque: xaboi
Belarusian: мыла n (mýla)
Bengali: সাবান (saban)
Breton: saon, soavon
Bulgarian: сапун (bg) m (sapún)
Burmese: ဆပ်ပြာ (my) (pyà)
Buryat: саван (savan)
Catalan: sabó m
Chamicuro: shawona
Chechen: саба (saba)
Chinese:

Mandarin: 肥皂 (zh) (féizào)

Min Nan: 雪文 (sat-bûn) (Zhangzhou), 茶塊 (tê-kóe) (Quanzhou), 番梘 (huan1-giang3) (Chaozhou), 雪文 (Hainan)
Chuvash: супӑнь (supănʹ)
Crimean Tatar: sabun
Czech: mýdlo (cs) n
Dalmatian: sapaun m
Danish: sæbe (da)
Dutch: zeep (nl)
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) (saponi)
German: Seife (de) f
Greek:

Ancient: σάπων m (sapon)

Modern: σαπούνι (el) n (sapoúni)
Gujarati: સાબુ (sābu)
Hebrew: סבון (he) m (sabon)
Hindi: साबुन (sābun)
Hungarian: szappan (hu)
Icelandic: sápa (is)
Ido: sapono (io)
Indonesian: sabun (id)
Inuktitut: ᐃᕐᒥᐅᑦ (irmiut)
Italian: sapone (it) m
Japanese: 石鹸 (ja) (せっけん, sekken), シャボン (ja) (shabon)
Jèrriais: savon m
Kalmyk: савң (savñ)
Kannada: ಸಾಬೂನು (kn) (sābūnu)
Karachay-Balkar: сапын (sapın)
Karakalpak: sabın
Kashubian: mëdło n
Kazakh: сабын (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 (samın)
Lao: ສະບູ່ (lo) (sa bū)

Latin: sapo
Latvian: ziepes f pl
Lithuanian: muilas (lt) m
Lojban: zbabu (jbo)
Lower Sorbian: mydło n
Luxembourgish: Seef (lb) f
Macedonian: сапун m (sápun)
Malagasy: savony (mg)
Malay: sabun (ms)
Malayalam: സോപ്പ് (ml) (sēāpp)
Maltese: sapuna (mt) f
Maori: hopi
Marathi: साबण (sābaṇ)
Middle English: sope
Mongolian: саван (savan)
Nahuatl: āmōlli
Nepali: सावुन (sāvun)
Nogai: сабын (sabın)
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)
Ossetian: сапон (sapon)
Persian: صابون (fa) (sâbun)
Polish: mydło (pl) n
Portuguese: sabão (pt) m
Punjabi: ਸਾਬਣ (sābaṇ)
Romanian: săpun (ro) n
Romansch: savun, savung, savùn
Russian: мыло (ru) n (mýlo)
Samoan: moli (sm)
Sanskrit: फेनकम् (phenakam)
Sardinian: sabone, saboni, saoni, sapone
Scottish Gaelic: siabann m
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: сапун m

Roman: sapun m
Shor: сабын (sabın)
Sicilian: sapuni (scn) m
Sinhalese: සබන් (saban)
Slovak: mydlo n
Slovene: milo (sl) n
Sotho: sesepa
Southern Altai: самын (samın)
Spanish: jabón (es) m
Swahili: sabuni (sw)
Swedish: tvål (sv) c
Tagalog: sabon
Tajik: собун (sobun)
Tamil: சோப்பு (ta) (cōppu)
Tatar: сабын (tt) (sabın)
Telugu: సబ్బు (te) (sabbu)
Thai: สบู่ (th) (sabu)
Turkish: sabun (tr)
Turkmen: sabyn
Tuvan: саваң (savañ)
Ukrainian: мило n (mýlo)
Upper Sorbian: mydło n
Urdu: صابن (sābun)
Uzbek: sovun
Venetian: saon, savon
Vietnamese: xà phòng (vi)
Volapük: sob (vo)
Welsh: sebon (cy)
Yakut: мыыла (mııla)
Yiddish: זייף f, n (zeyf)

soap opera — see soap opera

Verb[edit]

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

(transitive) To apply soap to in washing.

Be sure to soap yourself well before rinsing.
(transitive, informal) To cover with soap as a prank.

Those kids soaped my windows!
(transitive, informal) To be discreet about (a topic).
(slang, dated) To flatter; to wheedle.

Synonyms[edit]

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

Translations[edit]

apply soap in washing

Armenian: օճառվել (ōčaṙvel)
Czech: namydlit, mydlit
Esperanto: sapumi
Finnish: saippuoida
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)
Polish: mydlić
Portuguese: ensaboar (pt)
Romanian: săpuni (ro)
Russian: мылить (ru) impf (mýlit’), намылить (ru) pf (namýlit’)
Spanish: enjabonar, (reflexive) enjabonarse
Swahili: sabuni (sw)
Swedish: tvåla in
Tagalog: sabon

cover with soap as a prank

Finnish: saippuoida

Swahili: sabuni (sw)

Related terms[edit]

See also[edit]

soap on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams[edit]

OAPs

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English

Noun[edit]

soap f (plural soaps, diminutive soapje n)

soap opera, soap

Anagrams[edit]

opa's

French[edit]

Noun[edit]

soap m (plural soaps)

soap opera, soap

Anagrams[edit]

posa

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