soap
/soʊp/noun, verb
soap is spelled S-O-A-P: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, soap means “A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of soap is soaps.
How many letters and syllables are in soap?
| Letters | 4: S-O-A-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,309th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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 soap?
Soap appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th 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 soap?
- US /soʊp/
- UK /səʊp/
Soap 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: En-us-soap.ogg, En-uk-soap.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with soap?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as soap from its last stressed vowel (/oʊp/):
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 soap
- soaps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- soaping participle, present
- soaped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does soap mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.
- 2
informalSome other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.
I tried washing my hands with soap, but the stain wouldn't go away.
- 3
slangMoney, specially when used as a bribe.
- 4
informalA soap opera.
- 5
A solid masonry unit or brick reduced in depth or height from standard dimensions.
- 6
slangthiopental (sodium pentothal)
verb
- 1
To apply soap to in washing.
Be sure to soap yourself well before rinsing.
- 2
informalTo cover, lather, or in any other manner treat with soap, often as a prank.
Those kids soaped my windows!
- 3
informalTo be discreet about (a topic).
- 4
datedslangTo flatter; to wheedle.
noun
- 1
Acronym of subjective, objective, assessment, and plan.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Soap in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | savon , savonner, se savonner |
| German | Seife , einseifen |
| Portuguese | sabão, sabonete , ensaboar |
| Spanish | jabón, sopín , enjabonar, enjabonarse |
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 soap come from?
From Middle English sope, sape, from Old English sāpe (“soap, salve”), from Proto-West Germanic *saipā, from Proto-Germanic *saipǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *seyp- (“to pour out, drip, trickle, strain”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).