sellotape
/ˈsɛləteɪp/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.85 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To seal with adhesive tape.
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; British usage; Transitive verb
noun
A brand of adhesive tape (and similar products) similar to Scotch tape (US).
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; British usage; Uncountable
verb
Alternative letter-case form of sellotape.
Example Sentences
- "The door was slightly ajar, with a newspaper cartoon sellotaped to it:"
- "On one car he Sellotaped the ticket over the windscreen wiper."
- "He stood on his bed then Sellotaped the mermaid picture on to his wall so she would be the first thing he would see when he woke up."
- "She Sellotaped the stems back on but they just fell off again."
- "‘Didn’t they tell you about the pipe leakage problem there?’ ‘Yeah, I Sellotaped it.’ She stared at him. ‘You Sellotaped it?’ ‘Yeah, I just Sellotaped the shit out of it.’"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-der. Latin cella Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ula Latin cellulabor. French cellule Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsuslbor. French -ose French cellulosebor. English cellulose Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *dwísder. Ancient Greek διά (diá) Ancient Greek δῐᾰ- (dĭă-) Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek δῐᾰφαίνω (dĭăphaínō) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Proto-Hellenic *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ής (-ḗs) Ancient Greek δῐᾰφᾰνής (dĭăphănḗs)bor. Medieval Latin diaphanus Middle French diaphanebor. English diaphane blend English cellophane Old English tæppa Middle English tape English tape blend English Sellotape English sellotape Genericized trademark from Sellotape, a blend of cellophane + tape. The spelling with S- was to avoid an existing trademark on the word Cellophane itself.