198: chap Jun 24, 2015

Many words break down and change meaning over time, especially informal terms. Chap–a commonly used informal word in Britain–comes from another English word, 'chapman' which was the old term for a peddler. That word, in turn, comes from the Old English, 'cēapman', from 'cēap' meaning ‘bargaining, trade’, and is related to the Modern English word 'cheap'.