Etymograph

English

tap

Tap comes from Middle English tappe ‘hollow device for controlling the flow of…’, from Proto-Germanic *tappô ‘a plug, tap’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- ‘to lose’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂p-1‘to lose’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tappô1‘a plug, tap’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tappō1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tæppa1‘tap, spigot’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tappe1‘hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1553tap1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tap
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1553, S.: “Ye ſee maſters yͭ one end tapt of this…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂p-Wiktionary, English tap‘to lose’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tappôWiktionary, English tap‘a plug, tap’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tappōWiktionary, English tapreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tæppaWiktionary, English tap‘tap, spigot’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tappeWiktionary, English tap‘hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1553tapWiktionary, English tap. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1553, S.: “Ye ſee maſters yͭ one end tapt of this…”

The story

The noun is derived from Middle English tappe (‘hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot; hole through which the liquid flows; the liquid which thus flows’), from Old English tæppa, from Proto-West Germanic *tappō, from Proto-Germanic *tappô (‘a plug, tap; peg; tapering stick’), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (‘to lose; to sacrifice’). Verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.3.5 (‘to turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round’) alludes to the abilities or resources of the card or piece having been drawn on to the point of temporary exhaustion: see verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.3.2.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- ‘to lose’

damn, damage, condemn, indemnity, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *tappô ‘a plug, tap’

tampon, tapas, 2 more

through Old English tæppa ‘tap, spigot’

tape, 1 more

Another origin of tap

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tappen
  2. Englishtodaytap

Another origin of tap

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tep-os‘to be warm, be hot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*tāpásreconstructed
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEतापtāpa‘fever’
  4. Englishtodaytap

Today it means

noun A conical peg or pin used to close and open the hole or vent in a container.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tap”. 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-Indo-European *deh₂p- / tap

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