Pap Meaning
/pæp/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounFood in the form of a soft paste, often a porridge, especially as given to very young children.
nounPablum or nonsense.
Sentence Examples
I'd like to have a Pap smear done.
A Pap test can help detect cervical cancer early on.
Before our baby could eat solid food, we fed her pap.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Because the baby had no teeth to chew, his mother fed him soft ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The baby was fed soft ____ made from mashed vegetables and warm milk by the caregiver.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I hold it not amisse to take Pills in the pap of a rosted apple."
— 1633, James Hart, The Diet of the Diseased:
"A child's head is naturally as soft as the pap of an apple."
— 1761, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XVI, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume III, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 72:
"But I'll so pap him up - nothing too dear for him : What a sweet scent he has !"
— c. 1619–1623, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Custome of the Countrey”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
"But th'other rather higher did arise, / And her two lilly paps aloft displayd, / And all, that might his melting hart entise / To her delights, she vnto him bewrayd […]"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"they doe not onely weare jewels at their noses, in their lip and cheekes, and in their toes, but also big wedges of gold through their paps [translating tetins] and buttocks[…]."
— 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Because the baby had no teeth to chew, his mother fed him soft ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The baby was fed soft ____ made from mashed vegetables and warm milk by the caregiver.