soap (n.) Look up soap at DictionaryOld English sape "soap" - TopicsExpress



          

soap (n.) Look up soap at DictionaryOld English sape "soap" (originally a reddish hair dye used by Germanic warriors to give a frightening appearance), from West Germanic *saipo- "dripping thing, resin" (cf. Middle Low German sepe, West Frisian sjippe, Dutch zeep, Old High German seiffa, German seife "soap," Old High German seifar "foam," Old English sipian "to drip"), from PIE root *seib- "to pour out, drip, trickle" (cf. Latin sebum "tallow, suet, grease"). Romans and Greeks used oil to clean skin; the Romance language words for "soap" (cf. Italian sapone, French savon, Spanish jabon) are from Late Latin sapo (first mentioned in Pliny), which is a Germanic loan-word, as is Finnish saippua. The meaning "flattery" is recorded from 1853.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 20:27:20 +0000

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