Warp

How to spell warp

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce warp

What does warp mean?

1. verbTo bend, twist, or become misshapen, especially through heat, damp, or pressure.
2. nounA twist, bend, or distortion in something that was meant to be flat or straight.
3. nounThe set of lengthwise threads held on a loom, crossed by the weft to form cloth.

Warp in a sentence

• verb

  Damp can warp a wooden door so it no longer closes.

• noun

  The carpenter sanded out the slight warp in the tabletop.

• noun

  The weaver threaded each strand of the warp before adding the weft.

• verb

  Leaving the record near the heater will warp the vinyl.

• noun

  A noticeable warp in the shelf made the books lean to one side.

• noun

  A strong warp gives the finished fabric its durability.

Where does warp come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word descends from the Old English verb weorpan, which simply meant 'to throw' or 'to cast', and it has close cousins across the Germanic languages, including the Old Norse verpa and the German werfen, both also meaning 'to throw'. From the literal idea of throwing or flinging, the sense gradually shifted toward the way thrown objects twist in the air and the way materials twist out of shape, so that by the late medieval period 'warp' described wood, metal, or fabric bending or distorting. The weaving sense, the lengthwise threads stretched ('thrown') across a loom and crossed by the weft, is one of the oldest specialised uses and survives unchanged today. Because the word is native Germanic rather than borrowed from Latin or French, its spelling stayed short and blunt, with no silent letters to trip a modern writer. The modern science-fiction notion of 'warp speed' simply extends the old idea of bending: space itself being twisted or distorted to allow faster travel.

How the word is built

• warp (single Old English root meaning 'to throw', later 'to twist or bend')