Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#LOOPCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#LOOP loupe (“noose, loop”), earlier lowp-knot (“loop-knot”), of North GermanicCategory:English terms derived from North Germanic languages#LOOP origin, from Old NorseCategory:English terms derived from Old Norse#LOOP hlaup (“a run”), used in the sense of a "running knot", from hlaupa (“to leap”), ultimately from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#LOOP *hlaupaną (“to leap, run”). Compare Swedish löp-knut (“loop-knot”), Danish løb-knude (“a running knot”), Danish løb (“a course”). More at leap. The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /luːp/Category:English 1-syllable words#LOOPCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#LOOP
• Rhymes: -uːpCategory:Rhymes:English/uːp#LOOPCategory:Rhymes:English/uːp/1 syllable#LOOP
• Homophone: loupeCategory:English terms with homophones#LOOP

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#LOOP

Noun

loop (plural loops)Category:English lemmas#LOOPCategory:English nouns#LOOPCategory:English countable nouns#LOOPCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#LOOPCategory:Pages with entries#LOOPCategory:Pages with 5 entries#LOOP

1. A length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening.
2. The opening so formed.
3. A shape produced by a curve that bends around and crosses itself.

   Arches, loops, and whorls are patterns found in fingerprints.Category:English terms with usage examples#LOOP

4. A process that returns to its beginning and then repeats itself in the same sequence.

   Synonym: cycle

   feedback loopCategory:English terms with collocations#LOOP

   time loopCategory:English terms with collocations#LOOP

   • 2024 December 9, Siân Boyle, “Is doom scrolling really rotting our brains? The evidence is getting harder to ignore”, in The Guardian‎, archived from the original on 26 February 2026:

     An online feed that constantly “refills” manipulates the brain’s dopaminergic reward system in a similar way. These powerful dopamine-driven loops of endless “seeking” can become addictive.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

5. A ring road or beltway.
6. An endless strip of tape or film allowing continuous repetition.
   • 1979 December 8, anonymous author, “The Small Town”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 20, page 5:

     He can hang out in the back room of the local adult bookstore […] and hope for a stand-up blow-job through the glory hole in the partition of the two booths that show gay loops.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

7. A complete circuit for an electric current.
8. (programmingCategory:en:Programming#LOOP) A programmed sequence of instructions that is repeated until or while a particular condition is satisfied.
9. (graph theoryCategory:en:Graph theory#LOOP) An edge that begins and ends on the same vertex.
10. (topologyCategory:en:Topology#LOOP) A path that starts and ends at the same point.
11. (transportCategory:en:Transport#LOOP) A bus or rail route, walking route, etc. that starts and ends at the same point.
12. (rail transportCategory:en:Rail transportation#LOOP) A place at a terminus where trains or trams can turn round and go back the other way without having to reverse; a balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop.
    • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 119:

      In 1908 the line was extended to a station called Wood Lane, which was built on a terminal track loop so that trains could turn round and go back the other way, [...]

      Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

13. (rail transportCategory:en:Rail transportation#LOOP) A passing loop.
    • 2025 February 5, Philip Haigh, “Where track and train integration will be put to the test”, in RAIL, number 1028, page 51:

      Basingstoke-Exeter will test this. From Salisbury westwards, it's largely single-track since British Rail downgraded it in 1967. There's a ten-mile loop between Templecombe and Yeovil, as well as shorter loops at Chard, Axminster and Honiton.

      Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

14. (algebraCategory:en:Algebra#LOOP) A quasigroup with an identity element.
15. A loop-shaped intrauterine device.
16. An aerobatic maneuver in which an aircraft flies a circular path in a vertical plane.
17. A small, narrow opening; a loophole.
    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

      And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence / The eye of Reason may pry in upon us.

      Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

18. Alternative form of loup (“mass of iron”).
19. (biochemistryCategory:en:Biochemistry#LOOP) A flexible region in a protein's secondary structure.
20. (Canada, USCategory:Canadian English#LOOPCategory:American English#LOOP, datedCategory:English dated terms#LOOP, sportsCategory:en:Sports#LOOP) A sports league
    • 1963 September 27, “Italias Vie In Bayonne On Sunday”, in The Jersey Journal, page 17:

      Arellano formerly cavorted for the Galicias in the fast-paced National-American Soccer loop.

      Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

      Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
21. (cricketCategory:en:Cricket#LOOP) The curved path of the ball bowled by a spin bowler.

Verb

loop (third-person singular simple present loops, present participle looping, simple past and past participle looped)Category:English lemmas#LOOPCategory:English verbs#LOOPCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#LOOPCategory:Pages with entries#LOOPCategory:Pages with 5 entries#LOOP

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOP) To form something into a loop.
2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOP) To fasten or encircle something with a loop.
3. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOP) To fly an aircraft in a loop.
4. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOP) To move something in a loop.
5. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOP) To play something (such as a song or video) in a loop.
6. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOP) To join electrical components to complete a circuit.
7. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOP) To duplicate the route of a pipeline.
8. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOP) To create an error in a computer program so that it runs in an endless loop and the computer freezes up.
9. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#LOOP) To form a loop.
10. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#LOOP) To move in a loop.

    The program loops until the user presses a key.Category:English terms with usage examples#LOOP

    • 2011 February 4, Gareth Roberts, “Wales 19-26 England”, in BBC‎:

      The outstanding Tom Palmer won a line-out and then charged into the heart of the Welsh defence, scrum-half Ben Youngs moved the ball swiftly right and Cueto's looping pass saw Ashton benefit from a huge overlap to again run in untouched.

      Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

11. To place in a loop.
    • 2021 January 13, Richard Clinnick, “Longer freight trains boost efficiency and reduce carbon”, in Rail, page 10:

      It found that trains often looped on their journey emit 14% to 20% more NOx and particulates than non-stop services.

      Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

12. (educationCategory:en:Education#LOOP, ambitransitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#LOOPCategory:English intransitive verbs#LOOP) To have the teacher progress through multiple school years with the same students.
    • 2003, Lisa Lynn Snyder, An Investigation of Elementary Looping Practices and Outcomes in a Rural School District, page 54:

      Tolland Middle School in Connecticut where close to four hundred middle school students participated in looping, students from looped classroom structures scored much higher than students from prior years without the looped structure on standardized tests in mathematics and writing.

      Category:English terms with quotations#LOOP

See also

• Appendix:Parts of the knot

References

• loop on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• OOPL, Polo, Pool, polo, pool

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʊəp/Category:Afrikaans terms with IPA pronunciation#LOOP

Etymology 1

From DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Dutch#LOOPCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Dutch#LOOP lopen, from Middle DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Middle Dutch#LOOPCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Middle Dutch#LOOP lôpen, from Old DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Old Dutch#LOOPCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Old Dutch#LOOP lōpan, from Proto-West GermanicCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#LOOPCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#LOOP *hlaupan, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#LOOPCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Proto-Germanic#LOOP *hlaupaną (“to run”).

Etymology 2

From DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Dutch#LOOPCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Dutch#LOOP loop, from Middle DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Middle Dutch#LOOPCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Middle Dutch#LOOP lôop, from Old DutchCategory:Afrikaans terms inherited from Old Dutch#LOOPCategory:Afrikaans terms derived from Old Dutch#LOOP *lōp.

Etymology

From EnglishCategory:Cantonese terms borrowed from English#LOOPCategory:Cantonese terms derived from English#LOOP loop.

Pronunciation

Verb

loopCategory:Chinese lemmas#LOOPCategory:Chinese verbs#LOOPCategory:Chinese entries with incorrect language header#LOOPCategory:Pages with entries#LOOPCategory:Pages with 5 entries#LOOP

1. (Hong Kong CantoneseCategory:Hong Kong Cantonese#LOOP) to repeatedly consume or play songs or videos

   條片我loop咗幾百次 [Cantonese, trad.]
   条片我loop咗几百次 [Cantonese, simp.]

   tiu⁴ pin³ ngo⁵ lup¹ zo² gei² baak³ ci³ [Jyutping]

   I've repeatedly watched the video a few hundreds times

   Category:Cantonese terms with usage examples

2. (Hong Kong CantoneseCategory:Hong Kong Cantonese#LOOP, by extension) to occur repeatedly

Noun

loopCategory:Chinese lemmas#LOOPCategory:Chinese nouns#LOOPCategory:Chinese entries with incorrect language header#LOOPCategory:Pages with entries#LOOPCategory:Pages with 5 entries#LOOP

1. (Hong Kong CantoneseCategory:Hong Kong Cantonese#LOOP) loop; cycle (Classifier: 個／个 c)Category:Chinese nouns classified by 個/个#LOOP

   無限loop／无限loop [Cantonese]  ―  mou⁴ haan⁶ lup¹ [Jyutping]  ―  infinite never-ending loopCategory:Cantonese terms with usage examples

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /loːp/Category:Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation#LOOP

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Dutch terms with audio pronunciation#LOOP
• Hyphenation: loop
• Rhymes: -oːpCategory:Rhymes:Dutch/oːp#LOOPCategory:Rhymes:Dutch/oːp/1 syllable#LOOP

Etymology 1

From Middle DutchCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch#LOOPCategory:Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch#LOOP lôop, from Old DutchCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch#LOOPCategory:Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch#LOOP *lōp, from Proto-West GermanicCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#LOOPCategory:Dutch terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#LOOP *hlaup, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#LOOPCategory:Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic#LOOP *hlaupą. Equivalent to a deverbal from lopen (“to walk”)Category:Dutch deverbals#LOOP.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Anagrams

• Pool, pool

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Portuguese terms borrowed from English#LOOPCategory:Portuguese unadapted borrowings from English#LOOPCategory:Portuguese terms derived from English#LOOP loop.

Pronunciation

Noun

loop m (plural loops)Category:Portuguese lemmas#LOOPCategory:Portuguese nouns#LOOPCategory:Portuguese countable nouns#LOOPCategory:Portuguese entries with incorrect language header#LOOPCategory:Portuguese masculine nouns#LOOPCategory:Pages with entries#LOOPCategory:Pages with 5 entries#LOOP

1. (computingCategory:pt:Computing#LOOP) loop (repeating sequence of instructions)

   Synonyms: ciclo, laço

2. loop (aircraft manoeuvre)

   Synonym: looping

Further reading

• “loop”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “loop”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026