mop

See also: Mop, MOP, мор, and мөр

English

Etymology

From Middle English mappe (also as mappel), perhaps borrowed from Walloon mappe (“napkin”), from Latin mappa (“napkin, cloth”). Believed to be from a Semitic source, variously claimed as Phoenician or Punic (the latter by Quintilian). Compare Modern Hebrew מַפָּה‎ (mapá, “a map; a cloth”) (shortened from מַנְפָּה‎ (manpah, “fluttering banner, streaming cloth”)). More at map.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɒp/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɑp/
• Rhymes: -ɒp

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

mop (plural mops)

1. An implement for washing floors or similar, made of a piece of cloth, or a collection of thrums, or coarse yarn, fastened to a handle.
2. A wash with a mop; the act of mopping.

   He gave the floor a quick mop to soak up the spilt juice.

3. (humorous) A dense head of hair.

   He ran a comb through his mop and hurried out the door.

4. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) A fair where servants are hired.
5. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) The young of any animal.
6. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) A young girl; a moppet.
7. A made-up face; a grimace.
   • c. 1621, John Fletcher; Philip Massinger, “The Pilgrim”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii:

     What mops and mowes it makes! --

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Before you can say 'Come' and 'Go,'
     And breathe twice; and cry 'so, so,'
     Each one, tripping on his toe,
     Will be here with mop and mow.

8. (African-American Vernacular, MLE, slang) A firearm particularly if it has a large magazine (compare broom, but still can be related to MP)
   • 2021 April 7, M24 (lyrics and music), “Plugged In”‎^[1], 2:16–2:19:

     Mainstream in this ting but I'm fully on opps
     Got shot with a mop but that boy never dropped

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:firearm

Derived terms

• mophead
• mop squeezer
• mop water
• on the mop

Descendants

• → Canadian French: moppe
• → German: Mopp
• → Spanish: mopa

Translations

implement for washing floors

• Albanian: shtupë (sq) f
• Arabic: مِمْسَحَة‎ f (mimsaḥa)

  Hijazi Arabic: مِمْسَحَة‎ f (mimsaḥa)

  Moroccan Arabic: جفّافة‎ f (jaffāfa)

• Armenian: պոլի փեդ (poli pʿed) (non-standard)
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: шва́бра f (švábra)
• Bulgarian: подочиста́чка f (podočistáčka)
• Catalan: pal de fregar m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拖把 (zh) (tuōbǎ)

• Czech: mop m
• Dutch: zwabber (nl), dekzwabber m, mop (nl) m
• Esperanto: ŝvabrilo
• Finnish: moppi (fi)
• French: serpillière (fr) f, (Quebec) vadrouille (fr) f, (Quebec) moppe (fr) f, torchon (fr) (Belgium)
• Galician: fregona (gl) f
• Georgian: შვაბრა (švabra)
• German: (chiefly with thrums) Mopp (de) m; (with fibres) Schrubber (de) m; (with a cloth) Aufnehmer (de) m (regional)
• Greek: σφουγγαρίστρα (el) f (sfoungarístra)
• Hebrew: סְחָבָה‎ (he) f (skhavá)
• Hungarian: felmosórongy (hu), felmosó, mop (hu)
• Icelandic: moppa (is) f, þvegill (is) m
• Ido: swabro (io)
• Irish: mapa m, strailleán m
• Italian: lavapavimenti m, spazzolone m, scopino (it) m
• Japanese: モップ (moppu)
• Korean: 대걸레 (ko) (daegeolle), 자루 걸레 (jaru geolle)
• Maori: mapu
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mopp m

  Nynorsk: mopp m

• Old English: please add this translation if you can
• Oromo: foksoo
• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: mop (pl) m
• Portuguese: esfregão (pt) m
• Russian: шва́бра (ru) f (švábra)
• Scottish Gaelic: sguab f
• Spanish: chascona (es) f (Chile), coleto (es) m (Venezuela, especially colloquial usage), fregona (es) f (Spain), lampazo (es) m (Argentina, Nicaragua, Northwestern Venezuela), mapo (es) m (Puerto Rico), mechudo m (Mexico), mocho (es) m (Eastern Spain), mopa (es) f (Venezuela, especially commercial usage), palo de trapear m (Cuba), suape m (Dominican Republic), trapeador (es) m (Central America, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru), trapero (es) m (Colombia), palopiso m (Costa Rica)
• Swedish: mopp (sv) c
• Tagalog: lampaso
• Thai: ไม้ถูบ้าน (th) (máai tŏo bâan)
• Turkish: paspas (tr), mop (tr)
• Ukrainian: шва́бра f (švábra)
• Vietnamese: cán lau nhà
• Walloon: loke a rlocter (wa) f, drap d' måjhon (wa) m, wite (wa) f, såpire (wa) f
• Welsh: mop m

a grimace

• Catalan: ganyota f
• French: grimace (fr) f
• Hungarian: grimasz (hu), fintor (hu)

head of hair

• Catalan: xolla (ca) f
• Finnish: hiuskuontalo
• French: tignasse (fr) f
• Hungarian: hajtincs (hu), hajcsomó (hu)
• Irish: straille m
• Italian: zazzera (it) f

Verb

mop (third-person singular simple present mops, present participle mopping, simple past and past participle mopped)

1. (transitive) To rub, scrub, clean or wipe with a mop, or as if with a mop.

   to mop (or scrub) a floor

   to mop one's face with a handkerchief

2. (intransitive) To make a wry expression with the mouth.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Flibbertigibbet,[is scared of]moping and mowing, who since possesses chambermaids and waiting-women

3. (US, slang) To shoplift.
   • 2013, Martha Gever, Pratibha Parmar, John Greyson, Queer Looks (page 111)

     By “mopping” (stealing) the clothes and accessories necessary to effect their look, or by buying breasts, reconstructed noses, lifted chins, and female genitals, the children turn traditional ideas of labor around: […]

Translations

to rub, scrub, clean or wipe with a mop, or as if with a mop

• Bulgarian: бърша с моп (bǎrša s mop)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 拖 (to¹)

• Esperanto: ŝvabri (eo)
• Finnish: mopata (fi), luututa (fi)
• French: serpiller (fr)
• German: moppen (de)
• Greek: σφουγγαρίζω (el) (sfoungarízo)
• Hungarian: felmos (hu), feltöröl (hu), felsúrol
• Icelandic: skúra, moppa (is), skrúbba, þvo (is)
• Ido: swabragar (io)
• Italian: lavare (it), ripulire (it), dare lo spazzolone, ripassare con lo spazzolone
• Maori: mapu
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: mopp
• Spanish: fregar (es)
• Swahili: deki (sw)
• Swedish: moppa (sv)
• Turkish: paspaslamak (tr), paspas atmak, paspas çekmek

References

• (fair where servants are hired): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary

Anagrams

• MPO, OPM, PMO, POM, Pom, pom

Cameroon Pidgin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔp/

Noun

mop

1. mouth

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔp/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mop
• Rhymes: -ɔp

Etymology 1

The now-obsolete sense brick, attested from the 17th century, appears to be the oldest, with the sense cookie following in the 18th century. The exact relationship between the various later senses is unclear. The ultimate origin is unclear, but possibly corrupted from mok (“mug, cup”).

Noun

mop m (plural moppen, diminutive mopje n)

1. a joke, jest
2. a tune, melody
3. a type of cookie
4. (endearing, often in the diminutive) a woman or girl
5. (obsolete) a brick

Usage notes

• The use as an affectionate term of address is often as a diminutive, and specifically in the non-standard form moppie. The standard diminutive mopje is never used for this sense.

Synonyms

• grap

Derived terms

• Belgenmop
• kloostermop
• moppenboek
• moppentrommel
• Nederlandermop

Descendants

• → Indonesian: mop (only found in the phrase April Mop)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English mop.

Noun

mop m (plural mops, diminutive mopje n)

1. a mop (an implement for washing floors, etc.)

   Synonym: zwabber, dekzwabber

Descendants

• → Papiamentu: mòp

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

mop

1. first-person singular present indicative of moppen
2. imperative of moppen

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔp/

Noun

mop f (plural mops)

1. Alternative form of moppe

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English mop.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔp/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔp
• Syllabification: mop

Noun

mop m inan

1. mop (implement for washing floors)

   Hypernym: szczotka

Declension

Declension of mop

	singular	plural
nominative	mop	mopy
genitive	mopa	mopów
dative	mopowi	mopom
accusative	mop/mopa	mopy
instrumental	mopem	mopami
locative	mopie	mopach
vocative	mopie	mopy

Derived terms

verb

• mopować

 

Further reading

• mop in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• mop in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

From English mop.

Noun

mop n (plural mopuri)

1. mop (an implement for washing floors)

Declension

Declension of mop

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) mop	mopul	(niște) mopuri	mopurile
genitive/dative	(unui) mop	mopului	(unor) mopuri	mopurilor
vocative	mopule		mopurilor