Etymology: Old English lappa, læppa weak masculine = Old Frisian lappa, Old Saxon lappo (Essen gloss.), Middle Dutch lappe (Dutch lap), Old High German (with unexplained pp instead of pf) lappa (feminine) (Middle High German lappe masculine and feminine, modern German lappen masculine); compare Old Norse lepp-r clout, rag, lock of hair. Apparently the Old Germanic type would be *lappon- with pp for earlier pn ; the pre-Germanic root might be either *lop- , *lob- , or *lobh- . Scholars have variously suggested connection with Greek λόβος lobe n. (see sense 2a below), with Sanskrit ramb-, lamb-, to hang loose, or with Lithuanian lópas patch.

Etymology: < lap v.¹

Etymology: < lap v.²

Etymology: Of obscure etymology; perhaps a use of lap n.³, as the original tool may have been a ‘lap’ or wrapping of cloth or leather.

Etymology: Old English lapian = Middle Low German and Middle Dutch lapen, Old High German laffan; compare Icelandic lepja; the Old Germanic root *lap- (cognate with Latin lambĕre, Greek λάπτειν to lick, lap) is represented also by Old High German leffil, modern German löffel spoon. The normal representative of the Old English word is the obsolete lape; the form lappe, lap may be due to the influence of French laper (an adoption of the Germanic word).

Etymology: Not in Old English or in any other Germanic language; first recorded c1200–1225 in the compound bi-lappe , bi-leppe . Probably < lap n.¹ in the sense ‘fold’ or ‘piece of cloth’. The perplexing form wlappe (Wyclif, Pecock) is probably not original, but due to the influence of the synonymous wrap v.; it is hardly likely that Old French vloper, veloper, voloper can have contributed to the change of form.