drappus

Latin

Alternative forms

drapus, trapus

Etymology

Not found in Classical Latin. First recorded in the sixth century in the Vita Caesaris Arelatis and then later in the Capitularies of Charlemagne.

further information

Such a late attestation likely was caused by Germanic origin, namedly borrowing from Frankish *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”)^[1] from Proto-Germanic *drap-, *drēp- (“something beaten”), from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to beat, crush, make or become thick”).^[2] Cognate with English drub (“to beat”), Low German drapen (“to strike, manage, work”), German treffen (“to meet”), Swedish dräpa (“to slay”). More at drub.

Compare Medieval Latin alternative form trapus (Spanish trapo), possibly from or influenced by Frankish *trabu (“cloth, thread, rag”), from Proto-Germanic *trabō, *trafą, *trēb (“fringe, rags”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreHp- (“rag”). Cognate with Old High German traba (“fringe, tatters, thread”), Old Norse traf (“headscarf”), Middle English trappe (“trappings, personal belongings”), Middle English trappen (“to outfit, deck”).

Alternatively, may be a borrowing from Gaulish *drappo (“shred, torn-off piece”),^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *drep- (“to scratch, tear”), compare Welsh drab (“piece, shred”) and drabio (“to tear into pieces”).

Noun

drappus m (genitive drappī); second declension^[4] (Late Latin)

piece of cloth

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	drappus	drappī
genitive	drappī	drappōrum
dative	drappō	drappīs
accusative	drappum	drappōs
ablative	drappō	drappīs
vocative	drappe	drappī

Descendants

Italo-Dalmatian
- Dalmatian: drap
- Italian: drappo
- Sicilian: drappu
  - → Maltese: drapp
Old French: drap, drape, drappe
- Middle French: drap
  - French: drap (see there for further descendants)
  - →? English: drab
- Picard: drâp (Athois)
- Walloon: drap (Liégeois)
- → Middle English: drape
  - English: drape
  - Scots: drape
Catalan: drap
- → Sardinian: drapu
West Iberian
- Asturian: trapu
- Old Galician-Portuguese: trapo
  - Galician: trapo
  - Portuguese: trapo
- Old Spanish: trapo
  - Ladino: trápo
  - Spanish: trapo
⇒ Medieval Latin: drapellus, drappellus
- Italian: drappello
  - → Romanian: drapel
- Old French: drapel, drapiau, drapeu
  - Middle French: drapel, drappel, drapeau, drappeau
    - French: drapeau
- Occitan: drapel

References

^ onlinedictionary.com
^ Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, "Drab."
^ Robert K. Barnhart, ed., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. "drab" (NY: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2003).
^ drappus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

[1] tionary.com

[2] Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, "Drab."

[3] Robert K. Barnhart, ed., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. "drab" (NY: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2003).

[4] rappus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

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