# leap

> English word · Verb · IPA /liːp/ · frequency rank #7,808

## Definitions
1. To jump.
2. To pass over by a leap or jump.
3. To copulate with (a female beast)
4. To copulate with (a human)
5. To cause to leap.

## Etymology
From Middle English lepen, from Old English hlēapan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaupan, from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną. Doublet of lope, lowp, elope, gallop, galop, interlope, and loop.
Cognate with North Frisian laap, luup, luupe (“to jog, run, walk”), Saterland Frisian lope, loope (“to run”), West Frisian ljeppe (“to jump”), Dutch lopen (“to run; to walk”), German laufen (“to run; to walk”), Limburgish loupe (“to jog, run, walk”), Low German lopen, loupen (“to run”), Luxembourgish lafen (“to run”), Vilamovian łaojfa (“to run”), Danish løbe (“to run”), Faroese leypa (“to jump”), Icelandic hlaupa (“to run; to jump”), Norwegian Bokmål løpe (“to run”), Norwegian Nynorsk laupa, laupe, løpa, løpe (“to run”), Swedish löpa (“to run”), from Proto-Indo-European *klewb- (“to spring, stumble”) (compare Lithuanian šlùbti ‘to become lame’, klùbti ‘to stumble’).

## Easily confused with
- **LP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lp)
- **let** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-let)
- **LED** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-led)
- **lee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lee)
- **leg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-leg)
- **leo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-leo)
- **lip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lip)
- **les** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-les)
- **lex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lex)
- **Len** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-len)
- **Lew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lew)
- **lei** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lei)
- **lev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lev)
- **ley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-ley)
- **loa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-loa)
- **LEM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lem)
- **lop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lop)
- **Lua** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lua)
- **Leh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-leh)
- **lel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leap-vs-lel)

## Common misspellings (5)
`elap`, `laep`, `leapp`, `lepa`, `lleap`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/leap