napkin
/ˈnæpkɪn/NAP-kin
/ˈnæpkɪn/NAP-kin
Meaninga little cloth
Common meaning: a small cloth for wiping at meals
- napa napkin, a clothLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1112 · scan
- kinsmall-thing ending (from Dutch)
Journey through time
- Latinmappa, -ae‘a napkin, a cloth’
- Middle Englishnapekinsource
- Englishnapkin‘a small cloth for wiping at meals’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin mappa ‘a napkin, a cloth’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry mappa, p. 1112 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry APRON, p. 30 · dictionary scan
Roots
- mappa, -ae Latin “a napkin, a cloth”
Related words
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