"downy or woolly surface of cloth," mid-15c., noppe, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German noppe "nap, tuft of wool," probably introduced by Flemish cloth-workers. Cognate with Old English hnoppian "to pluck," ahneopan "pluck off," Old Swedish niupa "to pinch," Gothic dis-hniupan "to tear."

"have a short sleep," Middle English nappen, from Old English hnappian (Mercian hneappian) "to doze, slumber, sleep lightly," a word of unknown origin, apparently related to Old High German hnaffezan, German dialectal nafzen, Norwegian napp. In Middle English also "be sleepy, be inattentive or careless." Related: Napped; napping.

"short spell of sleep," especially during daylight hours, mid-14c., from nap (v.). With take (v.) from c. 1400.

"to furnish with a nap, raise the nap of," 1610s, from nap (n.1). Earlier in a now-obsolete sense of "shear or clip off the nap of" (a fabric), late 15c., noppen, from Middle Dutch. Related: Napped; napping.

also catnap, cat's nap, "a short, light sleep," by 1823, from cat (n.) + nap (n.). A nap such as a cat takes. As a verb from 1859.

"worn threadbare," 1590s, from nap (n.1) + -less.

"action of sleeping," from Old English hneappunge, verbal noun from nap (v.).

"downy, having an abundance of nap on the surface," c. 1500, noppi, from nap (n.1) + -y (2). Earlier, of ale, "having a head, foamy" (mid-15c.), hence, in slang, "slightly intoxicated" (1721). Meaning "fuzzy, kinky," especially used in colloquial or derogatory reference to the hair of black people, is by 1840. It also was used of sheep. Related: Nappiness.

late 14c., from thread (n.) + bare. The notion is of "having the nap worn off," leaving bare the threads.

"to slumber, take a short nap," by 1780, a cant word, of unknown origin, perhaps echoic of a snore. Related: Snoozed; snoozing. The noun meaning "a short nap" is from 1793. Snoozy "sleepy, slumberous" is by 1877. Snooze-alarm is from 1965.