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PlainSpell

nap

/næp/verb, noun

nap is spelled N-A-P: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, nap means “To have a nap; to sleep for a short period of time, especially during the day” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in nap?

Letters3: N-A-P
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing6.6 times per million words; the 9,313th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is nap?

Nap appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce nap?

  • US /næp/

Nap has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-knap.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with nap

Sounds like: knap (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: napoleon.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with nap?

11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as nap from its last stressed vowel (/æp/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: pan.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of nap

  • naps present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • napping participle, present
  • napped participle, past
  • knap

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does nap mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To have a nap; to sleep for a short period of time, especially during the day.

  2. 2

    To be off one's guard.

    The regulators were caught napping by the financial collapse.

  3. 3

    To form or raise a soft or fuzzy surface on (fabric or leather).

  4. 4

    To cover (something) with a sauce. (usually in the passive)

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo grab; to nab.

noun

  1. 1

    A short period of sleep, especially one during the day.

  2. 2

    A soft or fuzzy surface, generally on fabric or leather.

    If incorporated in automatic guidance, this practical pursuit adjustment will enhance pilot acceptance of automatic guidance in following nap-of-the-earth profiles with precision.

  3. 3

    The common direction, on some kinds of fabric, of the hairs making up the pile.

    If the fabric has a nap, make sure all pieces are cut with the nap going the same direction.

  4. 4

    UKA type of bet in British horse racing, based on the experts' best tips.

  5. 5

    A card game in which players take tricks; properly Napoleon.

  6. 6

    A bid to take five tricks in the card game Napoleon.

  7. 7

    ScotlandA cup, bowl.

noun

as NAP
  1. 1

    Acronym of non-aggression principle.

  2. 2

    Acronym of non-aggression pact.

  3. 3

    Acronym of national adaptation plan.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Nap in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfaire la sieste, siester (to have a nap), sieste, somme, roupillon (a short period of sleep, especially during the…)
Germanein Nickerchen machen (to have a nap), Nickerchen (a short period of sleep, especially during the…), Tuchnoppe, Flor, Noppe, Pol (a soft or fuzzy surface on fabric or leather)
Portuguesecochilar, sonecar, dormitar (to have a nap), sesta, soneca, cochilo (a short period of sleep, especially during the…)
Spanishsestear, dormitar, hacer siesta, echarse una siesta, echarse la siesta, echarse (to have a nap)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does nap come from?

From Middle English nappen, from Old English hnappian (“to doze, slumber, sleep”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnappōn (“to nap”). Cognate with Old High German hnaffezan, hnaffezzan (whence Middle High German nafzen (“to slumber”) whence German dialectal napfezen, nafzen (“to nod, slumber, nap”)).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after nap