Etymology
1. "strike lightly," c.1225, from O.Fr.
taper "tap, rap, strike," from a Gallo-Romance or Gmc. source ultimately imitative of the sound of rapping. Meaning "to designate for some duty or for membership" is recorded from 1952, from notion of a tap on the shoulder. The noun is attested from c.1300.
Tap dancer first recorded 1927, from
tap (n.) in the sense of "metal plate over the heel of a shoe" (1688).
2. 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”). Doublet of tapa.
3. The verb is derived from Middle English tappen (“to obtain (liquid, chiefly liquor) from a tap; to obtain and sell (liquor)”), from Old English tæppian (“to provide (a container) with a stopper; to obtain (liquid) from a tap”), and then either:
4. * from Old English tæppa (see above) + -ian (suffix forming verbs); or
5. * from Proto-Germanic *tappōną, from *tappô (noun) (see above).
6. 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. See: Middle English '
tappen', Old English '
tæppian'.
Verbs referencing "tap"
German, old spelling
zapfen, Korean
탭하다.