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Origin and history of clasp

clasp(n.)

c. 1300, claspe, "metal catch or hook used to hold things together," perhaps a metathesis of clapse, and thus from or related to Old English clyppan "clasp" (see clip (v.2)). As "a clinging or grasping," c. 1600.

clasp(v.)

late 14c., "to furnish with buckles," from clasp (n.). From c. 1400 as "to shut or fasten together with a clasp; to catch and hold by twining or embracing." Related: Clasped; clasping.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to clasp

clip(v.2)

"fasten, hold together by pressure," also (mostly archaic) "to embrace," from Old English clyppan "to embrace, clasp; surround; prize, honor, cherish," from Proto-Germanic *kluppjan (source also of Old Frisian kleppa "to embrace, love," Old High German klaftra, German klafter "fathom" (on notion of outstretched arms). Also compare Lithuanian glėbys "armful," globti "to embrace."

Meaning "to fasten, bind" is early 14c. Meaning "to fasten with clips" is from 1902. Related: Clipped. Original sense of the verb is preserved in U.S. football penalty (see clipping (n.1)).

clasp-hook(n.)

"pair of hooks provided with a ring which can hold them together," 1841, from clasp (n.) + hook (n.).

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clench
"to grasp firmly," c. 1300, from Old English (be)clencan "to hold fast, make cling," causative of clingan (see cling, and compare clinch); compare stench/stink. Meaning "to set firmly together" (of fists, teeth, etc.) is from 1747 (clinch in this sense is attested from 1630s). Fi
clutch
Old English clyccan "bring together, bend (the fingers), clench," from PIE *klukja- (source also of Swedish klyka "clamp, fork;" related to cling). Meaning "to grasp" is early 14c.; that of "to seize with the claws or clutches" is from late 14c. Sense of "hold tightly and close"
grasp
mid-14c., "to reach, grope, feel around," possibly a metathesis of grapsen, from Old English *græpsan "to touch, feel," from Proto-Germanic *grap-, *grab- (source also of East Frisian grapsen "to grasp," Middle Dutch grapen "to seize, grasp," Old English grapian "to touch, feel,
fibula
1670s, "clasp, buckle, brooch," from Latin fibula "clasp, brooch; bolt, peg, pin," related to figere "to drive in, insert...bone in the lower leg" from 1706, from a Latin loan-translation of Greek perone "small bone in the lower leg," originally "clasp..., brooch; anything pointed for piercing or pinning;" the bone was so called because it resembles a clasp such as that found...
infibulate
"to clasp, confine with a buckle, ring, clasp, or the like," especially of the sexual organs, to prevent copulation, 1620s..., from Latin infibulatus, past participle of infibulare "to close with a clasp," from in- "on" (from PIE root *en "in") +...fibula "a clasp, pin" (from PIE root *dheigw- "to stick, fix")....
embrace
mid-14c., "clasp in the arms," from Old French embracier (12c., Modern French embrasser) "clasp in the arms, enclose; covet...
hug
1560s, hugge "to embrace, clasp with the arms," of unknown origin; perhaps from Old Norse hugga "to comfort," from hugr "...
squeeze
c. 1600, "press forcibly" (transitive), perhaps an alteration of quease (Middle English quisen), from Old English cwysan "to squeeze," a word of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare German quetschen "to squeeze"). It perhaps also has been altered by influence of many words
grip
Old English grippan "to grip, seize, obtain" (class I strong verb; past tense grap, past participle gripen), from West Germanic *greipanan (source also of Old High German gripfen "to rob," Old English gripan "to seize;" see gripe (v.)). Related: Gripped; gripping. French gripper
prig
"a conceited, narrow-minded pragmatical person; a dull, precise person; one who cultivates or affects propriety and offends or bores others," 1753, originally in reference to theological scruples (1704), a word of unknown origin. It could be related to earlier appearances of the

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