What does earlap mean?
Earlap is a rare English noun for the external ear, especially the visible auricle or pinna that catches sound and channels it toward the ear canal. Although the compound can initially suggest only the fleshy lower part of the ear, earlap has traditionally referred more broadly to the external structure, whereas earlobe or ear lobe names the soft, hanging portion at its base. The word survives mainly in historical, anatomical, and antiquarian writing; for everyday reference, external ear is the clearest modern expression, while auricle and pinna are precise technical alternatives. In literary or historical contexts, earlap conveys an antiquarian tone and can add vividness to descriptions of a person's ear or a sculpted or represented head. It is also the kind of transparent compound once common in English, joining ear with lap, a word associated with a flap or fold. Its regular plural is earlaps.
nounThe external ear, especially the visible auricle or pinna.
- The external ear, especially the visible auricle or pinna.
"The illustration depicts the earlap and the auditory canal."
"The illustration depicts the earlap and the auditory canal."
"The bronze statue's left earlap is chipped."
The regular plural of earlap; it is rarely needed because the word itself is uncommon.
"The sculptures depict several damaged earlaps."
A tiny compound with a precise job: earlap meant the outer ear as a whole, not just the little earlobe beneath it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does earlap come from?
Earlap is an English compound formed from ear and lap. The element lap originally referred to a flap or fold, so the compound denoted the projecting outer part of the ear. Latin auricle and auricular developed from Latin auris, “ear,” a cognate of the Germanic word represented in English by ear; Latin pinna came to denote the external ear in anatomy by way of its older sense of a wing or feather.
Related word forms
How earlap is actually used
Rare and chiefly literary, historical, or anatomical. Modern speakers normally use external ear, auricle, or pinna.
Easily confused with earlap
An earlap denotes the external ear as a whole, whereas an earlobe is only the soft, fleshy lower part of the ear.