# pap

> English word · Noun · IPA /pæp/ · frequency rank #20,178

## Definitions
1. Food in the form of a soft paste, often a porridge, especially as given to very young children.
2. Pablum or nonsense.
3. Porridge.
4. A fermented cereal pudding made from corn, sorghum, or millet
5. Support from official patronage.
6. The pulp of fruit.

## Etymology
From Middle English pap. Related to Middle Low German pappe, Dutch pap, German Pappe (“pap, porridge; wheatpaste; cardboard”), Old French papa/pape, Latin pappa, Bulgarian папам (papam, “to eat”) and Serbo-Croatian папати/papati (“to eat”), among others. The relationships between these words are difficult to reconstruct. The Germanic word is either a borrowing from Latin or, perhaps more probably, an independent formation in baby-talk.

## Easily confused with
- **PM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pm)
- **PC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pc)
- **PP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pp)
- **PR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pr)
- **pt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pt)
- **PS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-ps)
- **po** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-po)
- **pi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pi)
- **PG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pg)
- **PL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pl)
- **PE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pe)
- **PD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pd)
- **PB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pb)
- **PF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pf)
- **PU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pu)
- **PK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pk)
- **PV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pv)
- **PJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pj)
- **PW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-pw)
- **PX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pap-vs-px)

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