different between creature vs chap

English

Alternative forms

• creäture (archaic, chiefly literary and philosophy)

Etymology

From Middle English creature in the original sense of “a created thing”, borrowed via Old French creature, criature, from Latin cre?t?ra, from cre?. Displaced native Old English ?es?eaft. Doublet of craythur and critter.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kr?'ch?, IPA^(key): /?k?i?t???/
• (General American) enPR: kr?'ch?r, IPA^(key): /?k?i?t????/
• (archaic) enPR: kr?.??tyo?or, IPA^(key): /k?i??e?tj??/
• Rhymes: -i?t??(?)

Noun

creature (plural creatures)

1. A living being; an animal.
   • 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds

     But what would be the sentiment of uppertendom, when it should be rumored that the beautiful young creature, of the proud Clarence Delwood's choice, had stooped so low, as to maintain herself by her own hands?

2. (sometimes derogatory) A human.
3. (now rare, religion) A created thing, whether animate or inanimate; a creation.
   • 1633, John Donne, "Sapho to Philænis":

     Thoughts, my mindes creatures, often are with thee, / But I, their maker, want their libertie.

   • 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.10:

     the natural truth of God is an artificial erection of Man, and the Creator himself but a subtile invention of the Creature.
4. A being subservient to or dependent upon another.
   • 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry for Freedom, Oxford 2003, p. 240:

     they, too, despite the appearance of being creatures rather than creators of the Union, could assert the prior sovereignty of their states, for each had formed a state constitution […] before petitioning Congress for admission to the Union.

Usage notes

• For an explanation of the specialised use of the alternative spelling creäture, see its entry's usage notes.
• Adjectives often applied to "creature": evil, living, little, mythical, poor, strange, beautiful, wild, rational, marine, social, legendary, good, mysterious, curious, magical, dangerous, mythological, bizarre, monstrous, unhappy, huge, lowly, ugly, happy, unique, odd, weird, demonic, divine, imaginary, hideous, fabulous, nocturnal, angelic, political.

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:creature

Derived terms

• creatural
• creature comfort
• (from dialectal forms) critter, creetur, cratur, craythur

Related terms

Translations

References

• creature in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• creature in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• ecarteur

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ure

Noun

creature f

1. plural of creatura

Latin

Participle

cre?t?re

1. vocative masculine singular of cre?t?rus

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cre?t?ra.

Noun

creature f

1. creature, being

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: creatuur

Further reading

• “creature”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “creature”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French criature, creature, from Latin cre?t?ra; equivalent to createn +? -ure.

Alternative forms

• creatur, creatour, creatoure, creater, creture, crature, cryature, criature

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kr??a??tiu?r/, /kr??a?tiu?r/, /kr??a?tu?r/
• (reduced second syllable) IPA^(key): /kr???tiu?r/, /?kr???tiu?r/, /?kr??tur/
• (accented second syllable) IPA^(key): /kr??a?tiu?r/, /?kra?tiu?r/

Noun

creature (plural creatures)

1. Something that has been created; an entity or object.
2. A living being or creature; an animal or beast.
3. A human being (often as a term of self-abasement).
4. (rare) The whole world, the totality of existence.
5. (rare) The process of making or creation.

Descendants

• English: creature; critter; craytur
• Scots: creature, crayter

References

• “cr??t?re, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-18.

Etymology 2

Noun

creature

1. Alternative form of creatour

Old French

Etymology

Late Latin cre?t?ra.

Noun

creature f (oblique plural creatures, nominative singular creature, nominative plural creatures)

1. creature; being; entity

Descendants

• Middle English: creature
• French: créature

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?æp/
• Rhymes: -æp

Etymology 1

Shortened from chapman (“dealer, customer”) in 16th century English.

Noun

chap (plural chaps)

1. (dated outside Britain and Australia) A man, a fellow.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:man

2. (Britain, dialectal) A customer, a buyer.
   • 1728, John Gay, The Beggar's Opera Act 3

     If you have Blacks of any kind, brought in of late; Mantoes--Velvet Scarfs--Petticoats--Let it be what it will--I am your Chap--for all my Ladies are very fond of Mourning.

3. (Southern US) A child.

Derived terms

• chapess
• chappie
• chappo

Descendants

• Pennsylvania German: Tschaepp (“guy”)

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English chappen (“to split open, burst, chap”), of uncertain origin. Compare Middle English choppen (“to chop”), Dutch kappen (“to cut, chop, hack”). Perhaps related to chip.

Verb

chap (third-person singular simple present chaps, present participle chapping, simple past and past participle chapped)

1. (intransitive) Of the skin, to split or flake due to cold weather or dryness.
2. (transitive) To cause to open in slits or chinks; to split; to cause the skin of to crack or become rough.
   • 1712, Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem

     Then would unbalanced heat licentious reign, / Crack the dry hill, and chap the russet plain.

   • 1591, John Lyly, Endymion

     whose fair face neither the summer's blaze can scorch nor winter's blast chap.

3. (Scotland, Northern England) To strike, knock.
   • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, page 35:

     The door was shut into my class. I had to chap it and then Miss Rankine came and opened it and gived me an angry look […]

Derived terms

• chapped
• chapstick

Translations

Noun

chap (plural chaps)

1. A cleft, crack, or chink, as in the surface of the earth, or in the skin.
2. (obsolete) A division; a breach, as in a party.

   • Many clefts and chaps in our council board.

3. (Scotland) A blow; a rap.

Derived terms

• chappy

Etymology 3

From Northern English chafts (“jaws”). Compare also Middle English cheppe (“one side of the jaw, chap”).

Noun

chap (plural chaps)

1. (archaic, often in the plural) The jaw.
   • 1610, William Shakespeare, The Tempest

     This wide-chapp'd rascal—would thou might'st lie drowning / The washing of ten tides!

   • a. 1667, Abraham Cowley, The Song

     His chaps were all besmear'd with crimson blood.
2. One of the jaws or cheeks of a vice, etc.

Related terms

• chop

Translations

Etymology 4

Shortening

Noun

chap (plural chaps)

1. (Internet slang) Clipping of chapter (“division of a text”).

See also

• chaps

Anagrams

• CHPA, HCAP, PHAC, Pach

Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

chap m (plural chappen, diminutive chappie n)

1. Alternative spelling of sjap.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xap/

Verb

chap

1. second-person singular imperative of chapa?

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?ap/

Etymology

Late Middle English, from Old English *?eappian, *?ieppan, from Proto-Germanic *kapp-, *kap- (“to chop; cut; split”), like also English chop. The ultimate origin is uncertain; possibly from Vulgar Latin *cuppare (“to behead”), from Latin caput (“head”) and influenced by Old French couper (“to strike”).

Akin to Saterland Frisian kappe, kapje (“to hack; chop; lop off”), Dutch kappen (“to chop, cut, hew”), Middle Low German koppen (“to cut off, lop, poll”), German Low German kappen (“to cut off; clip”), German kappen (“to cut; clip”), German dialectal chapfen (“to chop into small pieces”), Danish kappe (“to cut, lop off, poll”), Swedish kapa (“to cut”), Albanian copë (“piece, chunk”), Old English *?ippian (attested in for?ippian (“to cut off”)).

Verb

chap

1. (transitive, intransitive) To knock (on) or strike.

References

Semai

Alternative forms

• cap

Etymology

From Proto-Mon-Khmer *cap ~ *caap (“to seize”). Cognate with Old Khmer cap (“to seize, catch”), Kuy ca?p (“to catch, hold”).

Verb

chap

1. to hold
2. to catch; to seize
3. to touch

Synonyms

• (to hold): pegak
• (to touch): lèèw

Derived terms

References