leap: [OE] Prehistoric Germanic *khlaupan was the source of English leap, and of its relatives German laufen and Dutch loopen (these both denote ‘run’, a meaning which leap used to have – and which is preserved in its first cousins lope [15], a borrowing from Old Norse, and elope). It is not known where it ultimately came from, although a connection has been suggested with Indo-European *kloub-, source of Lithuanian šlubuoti ‘limp’. The verb loaf may be related. => loaf, lope
leap (v.)
c. 1200, from Old English hleapan "to jump, run, leap" (class VII strong verb; past tense hleop, past participle hleapen), from Proto-Germanic *hlaupan (cognates: Old Saxon hlopan, Old Norse hlaupa, Old Frisian hlapa, Dutch lopen, Old High German hlouffan, German laufen "to run," Gothic us-hlaupan "to jump up"), of uncertain origin, with no known cognates beyond Germanic. Leap-frog, the children's game, is attested by that name from 1590s; figurative use by 1704.
First loke and aftirward lepe [proverb recorded from mid-15c.]
Related: Leaped; leaping.
leap (n.)
c. 1200, from Old English hliep, hlyp (West Saxon), *hlep (Mercian, Northumbrian) "a leap, bound, spring, sudden movement; thing to leap from;" common Germanic (cognates: Old Frisian hlep, Dutch loop, Old High German hlouf, German lauf); from the root of leap (v.). Leaps has been paired with bounds since at least 1720.
双语例句
1. Warwicks leap to third in the table, 31 points behind leaders Essex.
沃里克队在排名中蹿升至第3名，落后领先的埃塞克斯队31分。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The scale of migration took a quantum leap in the early 1970s.
20世纪70年代初，移民的规模骤然扩大。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The result has been a giant leap in productivity.
其结果是生产力的大幅提高。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Prudent people are not going to take a leap in the dark.
小心谨慎的人是不会轻易冒险的。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Once more he's making a leap into the unknown without a plan.
