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

used in reference to various qualities and things associated with 19c. French emperors of that name, especially Napoleon I (Bonaparte), 1769-1821. The given name (Italian Napoleone) is attested from 13c., said to be from a St. Napoleone of Alexandria, a 4c. martyr. It has been folk-etymologized as "lion of Naples" or "nose of a lion."

The name was applied to a gold coin issued by the government of Napoleon I, bearing his image, worth 20 francs. As the name of a 12-pound artillery piece, it is in use in U.S. military from 1857, from Napoleon III (1808-1873), under whose rule it was designed. As a type of boot, by 1860; as a card game, by 1876; as a type of rich cake, from 1892; as a type of good brandy, from 1930. The name also was applied by 1821 to anyone thought to have achieved domination in any field by ambition and ruthlessness. Napoleon complex in reference to aggressiveness by short people is attested by 1930. Related: Napoleonic; Napoleonism.

"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.

British colloquial for "baby's diaper," 1927, from use of napkin in this sense. Related: Nappies.

1967 (earlier narco, 1960), American English slang, shortened form of narcotics agent. It had been used 1955 for narcotics hospital, 1958 for narcotics addict. The senses and spelling have tended to merge with older but unrelated nark (q.v.).

1905, from German Narzissismus, coined 1899 (in "Die sexuellen Perversitäten"), by German psychiatrist Paul Näcke (1851-1913), on a comparison suggested 1898 by Havelock Ellis, from Greek Narkissos, name of a beautiful youth in mythology (Ovid, "Metamorphoses," iii.370) who fell in love with his own reflection in a spring and was turned to the flower narcissus (q.v.). Narcissus himself as a figure of self-love is attested by 1767. Coleridge used the word in a letter from 1822.

But already Krishna, enamoured of himself, had resolved to experience lust for his own self; he manifested his own Nature in the cow-herd girls and enjoyed them. [Karapatri, "Lingopasana-rahasya," Siddhanta, II, 1941-2]

Sometimes erroneously as narcism.

"person affected with narcissism," by 1919; see narcissism + -ist.

"marked by excessive self-love," 1912, see narcissism + -istic. Sometimes erroneously as narcistic. Related: Narcissistically.

type of bulbous flowering plant, 1540s, from Latin narcissus, from Greek narkissos, a plant name, not the modern narcissus, possibly a type of iris or lily, associated with Greek narkē "numbness" (see narcotic (n.)) because of the sedative effect of the alkaloids in the plant, but Beekes considers this folk-etymology and writes that "The suffix clearly points to a Pre-Greek word."