napkin
pronunciation
How to pronounce napkin in British English:
UK [ˈnæpkɪn]
How to pronounce napkin in American English:
US [ˈnæpkɪn]
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- Noun:
- to protect clothing; wipe mouth
- garment consisting of a folded cloth drawn up between the legs and fastened at the waist; worn by infants to catch excrement
Word Origin
- napkin
- napkin: [15] Latin mappa meant ‘cloth’ (it is the source of English map). As it passed into Old French its m became transformed into an n, producing nappe. This was borrowed into English as the long-defunct nape ‘cloth’, which, with the addition of the diminutive suffix -kin, has bequeathed napkin to modern English. The abbreviation nappy dates from the early 20th century. From derivatives of Old French nappe English also gets apron and napery [14].=> apron, map
- napkin (n.)
- late 14c., "a table napkin," from nape "a tablecloth" (from Old French nape "tablecloth, cloth cover, towel," from Latin mappa; see map (n.)) + Middle English -kin "little." No longer felt as a diminutive. The Old French diminutive was naperon (see apron). The shift of Latin -m- to -n- was a tendency in Old French (conter from computare, printemps from primum, natte "mat, matting," from matta). Middle English also had naperie "linen objects; sheets, tablecloths, napkins, etc.;" also, "place where the linens are kept."
Example
- 1. The napkin has to go back on the table .
- 2. Under the napkin was a one hundred dollar bill .
- 3. No one wants to see your stained napkin .
- 4. Geoff schmidt is shredding his napkin .
- 5. Then she noticed something written on the napkin .