Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
verb
To lap or wrap around (someone or something); to envelop, to surround.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
Qualifier: chiefly passive voice
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: enfold, environ, lap, umbelap
Antonyms: none provided
History
PIE word *h1epi From Middle English bilappen (“to envelop; to clothe; to surround; to blend, mix”), from bi- (completive, intensifying, or figurative prefix) + lappen (“to wrap; to place so as to enclose or enfold; to encase; to envelop; to clothe; to put on armour; to ensnare, snare”). Lappen is derived from lap, lappe (“loose part of a garment; folded or extended skirt, or loose sleeve, used to hold things; small piece of cloth or mail detached from a garment or coat of mail; a part, portion, share; a person’s lap; (also figuratively) a person’s bosom or breast; (anatomy) a loose part of the body (such as an earlobe or a lobe of the liver); female genitalia; cavity or sinus in the body; (in place names) piece of land at the edge of an estate or parish”) (from Old English læppa (“skirt; (anatomy) lobe”), from Proto-Germanic *lappô (“cloth; rag”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang down loosely (?)”)) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). The English word is analysable as be- (prefix meaning ‘about; around’ or ‘completely, utterly’) + lap (“to lap or wrap around, envelop, surround”).
