Standard Lemma guide

umbelap

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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

Pronunciation

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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌʌmbɪˈlæp/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌʌmbəˈlæp/
  • rhymes with -æp

1

verb

Meaning 1

To enshroud, to envelop; to surround.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: belap, encompass, enwrap, lap

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English umbelappen, umbelappe (“to clothe or wrap; to enclose, envelop; to beset or encircle (an enemy); to besiege; to interlace, overlap”) [and other forms], either from: * umb-, umbe- (prefix meaning ‘around, encircling, surrounding; covering, enveloping, wrapping’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h2m̥bhi (“about, around, on either side of”)) + lappen (“to wrap; to place so as to enclose or enfold; to encase; to envelop; to clothe; to put on armour; to ensnare, snare”); or * um- (prefix meaning ‘around, encircling, surrounding; covering, enveloping, wrapping’) + bilappen (“to envelop; to clothe; to surround; to blend, mix”) (from bi- (completive, intensifying, or figurative prefix) + lappen (see above)). 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 umbe- + lap (“to enfold, envelop; to enwrap, wrap around”) or um- + belap (“to lap or wrap around, envelop, surround”).