Dictionaries › English

wop

Pronunciation: /wɒp/

The English word “wop” has 1 meaning listed here.

noun

  1. A person of Italian descent.

Etymology

From Neapolitan guappo (“dude, stud”), a greeting borrowed from Spanish guapo (“bold, handsome”). Contrary to popular belief, the term is not an acronym of without passport or working off passage, which are backronyms derived from the term. First attested in New York City around 1906, eventually also spreading to Canada, Australia, and Britain.

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “wop” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.