"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.

"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."

1942, from naphthenic + palmitic, names of the two acids used in manufacture of the chemical thickening agent. See naphtha. It was used especially in mixture with gasoline to make a kind of inflammabvle jelly used in flame-throwers, incendiary bombs, etc. The verb, "to destroy with napalm," is by 1950, from the noun. Related: Napalmed; napalming.

"back upper part of the neck," c. 1300, of unknown origin, perhaps from Old French hanap "a goblet," in reference to the hollow at the base of the skull. "The entire absence of forms with initial k makes it difficult to connect the word with the apparently synonymous OFris (hals) knap [OED].

1570s, from Latin, from Greek naphtha "bitumen," perhaps from Persian neft "pitch," or Aramaic (Semitic) naphta, nephta, but these could as well be from Greek. In Middle English as napte (late 14c.), from Old French napte, but the modern word is a re-introduction. In ancient writers it refers to a more fluid and volatile variety of natural asphalt or bitumen. In modern use, a colorless inflammable liquid distilled from petroleum.

a benzene hydrocarbon obtained originally from distillation of coal tar, 1821, named by English chemist John Kidd, who first isolated and studied it, from naphtha + chemical suffix -ine (2) + -l- for the sake of euphony.

late 14c., "a table napkin, small square piece of cloth used to wipe the lips and hands and protect the clothes at table," a diminutive of nape "a tablecloth" (from Old French nape "tablecloth, cloth cover, towel," from Latin mappa; see map (n.)) + Middle English -kin "little." No longer felt as a diminutive. The Old French diminutive was naperon (see apron). The shift of Latin -m- to -n- was a tendency in Old French (conter from computare, printemps from primum, natte "mat, matting," from matta). Middle English also had naperie "linen objects; sheets, tablecloths, napkins, etc.;" also, "place where the linens are kept." Napkin-ring is from 1680s.

city in southern Italy founded by Greek colonists 5c. B.C.E., from Italian Napoli, from Greek Neapolis, literally "New City," from nea, fem. of neos "new" (see neo-) + polis "city" (see polis).