- clap (v.)
- Old English clæppan "to clap, throb, beat," echoic (cf. Old Frisian klapa "to beat," Old High German klaphon, Old Saxon klapunga). Of hands, to beat them together to get attention or express joy, from late 14c. Related: Clapped; clapping.
- clap (n.1)
- "loud noise," c.1200, from clap (v.). Of thunder, late 14c.
- clap (n.2)
- "gonorrhea," 1580s, of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle English claper, from Old French clapoire, originally "rabbit burrow" but given a slang extension to "brothel" and also the name of a disease of some sort. In English originally also a verb, "to infect with clap."