Neap
/niːp/noun
A tide that is at or near its weakest range.
Did you know?Neap is part of the ancient tide vocabulary of English, and it survives in the fixed phrase “neap tide,” describing the calmest tides when solar and lunar forces partially cancel each other out.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
nepflod
“a low tide; ebb tide”
Early Germanic
Gmc
*nep-
“to be lacking or to fall short, likely the source of the low-tide sense”
Middle English
ME
neep / neap
“a low or weak tide”
Modern English
English
neap
“the tide when the difference between high and low water is least”