laptop meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

laptop

noun

UK /ˈlæp.tɒp/ · US /ˈlæp.tɑp/

Etymology From lap (“upper legs of a seated person”) + top, modeled after desktop.

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A laptop computer.

He was playing a video game on his laptop.
Over time, the difference in size between laptops and notebooks became a matter of no more than an inch or two in length and width, and a fraction of an inch in thickness.2006, Corey Sandler, Upgrading and Fixing Laptops For Dummies, page 8:

1 more example

Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

Synonyms: laptop computer, notebook computer
Derived terms: craptop, hiptop, laplet, laptop hobo, laptopless, laptoplike, laptronica, nonlaptop
Related terms: desktop, palmtop

adj

Etymology From lap (“upper legs of a seated person”) + top, modeled after desktop.

Designed for use on a lap.

At NCC, however, laptop portables such as the Gavilan were stealing the show, and when Miyashita returned to japan, his list of possible projects included a proposal for a portable computer.1984 November, Gregg Williams, Ken Sheldon, “The Data General/One”, in BYTE, volume 9, number 12, McGraw-Hill Inc., →ISSN, page 105, column 1:
Otherwise, the keyboard feel and layout are good for a laptop machine but, as with most portables, I wouldn’t want to use the T1000 to write the entire great American novel—just a chapter or two at a time.1988 March 29, John Dickinson, “The Quest for the ‘Least Computer’”, in PC Magazine, volume 7, number 6, →ISSN, page 134, column 2:

1 more example

Nestled snugly into a cattle-class seat aboard a 737, you drop your tray table and open your laptop PC.1999 July, Chris O’Malley, “Little laptops”, in Popular Science, volume 255, number 1, →ISSN, page 73:

verb

Etymology From lap (“upper legs of a seated person”) + top, modeled after desktop.

Uncommon To use a laptop computer.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.