# soap

> English word · Noun · IPA /soʊp/ · frequency rank #5,367

## Definitions
1. A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products.
2. Some other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.
3. Money, specially when used as a bribe.
4. A soap opera.
5. A solid masonry unit or brick reduced in depth or height from standard dimensions.

## Etymology
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”).
Cognate with Scots saip, sape (“soap”), Saterland Frisian Seepe (“soap”), West Frisian sjippe (“soap”), Dutch zeep (“soap”), German Low German Seep (“soap”), German Seife (“soap”), Danish sæbe (“soap”), Swedish såpa (“soap”), Norwegian Bokmål såpe (“soap”), Norwegian Nynorsk såpe (“soap”), Faroese sápa (“soap”), Icelandic sápa (“soap”), Finnish saippua (“soap”), Finnish suopa (“soft soap”). Related also to Old English sāp (“amber, resin, pomade, unguent”), Latin sēbum (“tallow, fat, grease”). See seep. Latin sāpō (“soap”) is a borrowing from the Germanic.

## Easily confused with
- **SP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sp)
- **son** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-son)
- **spa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-spa)
- **sox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sox)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sol)
- **soy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-soy)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sup)
- **sow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sow)
- **SOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sos)
- **STA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sta)
- **SOB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sob)
- **sod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sod)
- **som** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-som)
- **soe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-soe)
- **sop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sop)
- **soi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-soi)
- **sou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sou)
- **SSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-ssa)
- **sor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-sor)
- **STP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soap-vs-stp)

## Common misspellings (5)
`osap`, `saop`, `soapp`, `sopa`, `ssoap`

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