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GERMAN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

tappen.

to grope, pad (walk hesitatingly, especially in the dark)

6 characters2 syllables approx.Deutsch language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈtapən/[ˈta.pm̩][-p(ə)n]
  1. to grope, pad (walk hesitatingly, especially in the dark)

    intransitive · weak
  2. to grope, frisk (search by feeling)

    intransitive · weak
Where this word comes from

From Middle High German tāpen with sporadic shortening before /p/ (as in Wappen, Schuppe from Middle High German wāpen, schuope). The verb is of onomatopoeic origin and comparable to the interjection tapp imitating soft walking sounds, though this is attested much later. The latter interjection is also found in Swedish tippa (“to sneak around on the toe tips”), tappa (“to tap around”), as found in the popular christmas song Tomtarnas julnatt, singing “tipp tapp, tipp tapp”, referensing the gnomes sneaking in the night to not wake anyone. Compare Proto-Germanic *tabōną (“to grope”), Norwegian tafse (“to move sluggish”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.