drappus

Meaning

1. Late Latinmasculinepiece of cloth

Declension

Origins

Not found in Classical Latin. First recorded in the sixth century in the Vita Caesaris Arelatis and then later in the Capitularies of Charlemagne. More information Such a late attestation likely was caused by Germanic origin, namely borrowing from Frankish *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”) from Proto-Germanic *drap-, *drēp- (“something beaten”), from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to beat, crush, make or become thick”). 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”), from Proto-Indo-European *drep- (“to scratch, tear”), compare Welsh drab (“piece, shred”) and drabio (“to tear into pieces”).