Wiktionary

carp

See also: Carp, CARP, and -carp

English edit

WOTD – 21 January 2024

Pronunciation edit

 
A common carp (Cyprinus carpio; etymology 1, sense 1).

Etymology 1 edit

From Late Middle English carpe (“the common carp (Cyprinus carpio)”),[1] from Old French carpe, from Late Latin carpa, possibly from Proto-West Germanic *karpo (possibly due to the introduction from the fish from the Danube into England in the 14th century;[2] whence Middle Low German karpe and Old High German charpho, karpho); further etymology unknown.[3]

Noun edit

carp (plural carp or carps)

  2. Any of various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae; specifically the common carp, Cyprinus carpio.
Hyponyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
Cyprinus carpio — see common carp

Etymology 2 edit

The verb is derived from Middle English carpen, karpe (“to chat, converse, talk; to chatter, gossip; to ask; to cry out, wail; to find fault, carp; to relate, tell; to recite; to sing”),[4] and then partly:[5]

The noun is derived from the verb.[6] (Middle English carp, karp (“conversation, discourse, talking; spoken or written message or statement; meaning; news; poem; song; story”), from Old Norse karp (“bragging”),[7] did not survive into modern English.)

Verb edit

carp (third-person singular simple present carps, present participle carping, simple past and past participle carped)

  1. (intransitive)
    1. To criticize or complain about a fault, especially for frivolous or petty reasons; to cavil.
    2. (obsolete) To speak, to talk; also, to talk about a subject in speech or writing.
    3. (obsolete) To talk much but to little purpose; to chatter, to prattle.
      Synonyms: blabber, prate; see also Thesaurus:prattle
    4. (obsolete) Of a bird: to sing; of a person (such as a minstrel): to sing or recite.
  2. (transitive, obsolete)
    1. To say or tell (something).
    2. To find fault with (someone or something); to censure, to criticize.
      Synonyms: reprehend, reprove, take exception
      • 1592 January 6 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Ed. Spencer [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “To the Right Worthy and Noble Knight Sir Walter Raleigh, […]”, in Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for William Ponsonbie, published 1595, →OCLC, signature A2, recto:
        [W]ith your good countenance protect against the malice of euill mouthes, vvhich are alvvaies vvide open to carpe at and miſconstrue my ſimple meaning.
      • 1605, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], “Grave Speeches, and Wittie Apothegmes of Woorthie Personages of This Realme in Former Times”, in Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 177:
        Albeit I doe knovve they [the speeches] vvill lie open to the cenſure of the youth of our time, vvho for the moſt part, are ſo over-gulled vvith ſelf-liking, that they are more then giddy in admiring themſelves, and carping vvhatſoever hath beene done or ſaide heeretofore, Nevertheleſſe I hope that all are not of one humour, and doubt not, but that there is diverſitie of taſtes, as vvas among Horaces gueſts; […]
      • 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 104:
        [W]hen I ſpoke, / My honeſt homely vvords vvere carp'd, and cenſur'd, / For vvant of Courtly ſtile: […]
Conjugation edit
Conjugation of carp
infinitive (to) carp
present tense past tense
1st-person singular carp carped
2nd-person singular carp, carpest† carped, carpedst†
3rd-person singular carps, carpeth† carped
plural carp
subjunctive carp carped
imperative carp —
participles carping carped

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Noun edit

carp (plural carps)

  1. An instance of, or speech, complaining or criticizing about a fault, especially for frivolous or petty reasons; a cavil.
Translations edit
instance of, or speech, complaining or criticizing about a fault, especially for frivolous or petty reasons — see cavil

References edit

  1. ^ “carpe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “carp”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  3. ^ “carp, n.1”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “carp1, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  4. ^ “carpen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  5. ^ “carp, v.1”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023; “carp2, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  6. ^ “carp, n.2”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.
  7. ^ “carp, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Catalan edit

 
Catalan Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ca

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “wrist”).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

carp m (plural carps)

  1. carpus

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French carpe.

Noun edit

carp n (uncountable)

  1. carpus

Declension edit

declension of carp (singular only)
singular
n gender indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) carp carpul
genitive/dative (unui) carp carpului
vocative carpule
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