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Added 9 October 2026

drape

/dɹeɪp/ noun

Latin root: drappus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about drape at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window).
The manner in which fabric hangs or falls.
she adjusted the drape of her skirt
A sterile covering arranged over a patient's body during a medical examination or during surgery in order to reduce the possibility of contamination.

verb

Arrange in a particular way.
drape a cloth
Place casually.
The cat draped herself on the sofa
Cover as if with clothing.
the mountain was clothed in tropical trees

Origin

From Middle English drape (“a drape”, noun), from Old French draper (“to drape; to full cloth”), from drap (“cloth, drabcloth”), from Late Latin drappus, drapus (“drabcloth, kerchief”), a word first recorded in the Capitularies of Charlemagne, probably from Frankish *drapi, *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”, literally “that which is struck or for striking”), from Proto-Germanic *drapiz (“a strike, hit, blow”) and Proto-Germanic *drēpiz (“intended for striking, to be beaten”), both from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreb- (“to beat, crush, make or become thick”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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