Etymograph

English

soap

Soap comes from Old English sāpe ‘soap, salve’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *saipǭ.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*saipǭ1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*saipā1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sāpe1‘soap, salve’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sope1
  5. Englishtodaysoap1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English soap

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*saipǭWiktionary, English soapreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*saipāWiktionary, English soapreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sāpeWiktionary, English soap‘soap, salve’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sopeWiktionary, English soap
  5. EnglishtodaysoapWiktionary, English soap

The story

Related also to Old English sāp (‘amber, resin, pomade, unguent’), Latin sēbum (‘tallow, fat, grease’). Latin sāpō (‘soap’) is a borrowing from the Germanic.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seyb-

seep, suet, sebaceous, sebum, 3 more

Today it means

noun A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “soap”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *saipǭ / soap

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