trapan meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

trapan

noun

US, UK /tɹəˈpæn/

Etymology The origin of the noun is uncertain; etymology 1, noun sense 2 (“person that traps or tricks another”), the original sense, was probably thieves’ cant and may be derived from trap (noun or verb). Etymology 1, noun sense 1 (“act of entrapping or tricking; thing which entraps or tricks”) is from the verb. The verb is derived from etymology 1, noun sense 2 of the noun.

An act of entrapping or tricking; an entrapment; also, a thing which entraps or tricks; a snare or trap; a stratagem or trick.

As for all other Pretences, they are nothing but Death and Damnation, dreſſed up in Fair VVords and Falſe Shevvs; nothing but Ginns, and Snares, and Trepans for Souls; Contrived by the Devil, and Managed by ſuch as the Devil ſets on VVork.1661 December 19 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1698, Robert South, “False Foundations Removed, and True Ones Laid for such Wise Builders as Design to Build for Eternity. In a Sermon Preached at St. Mary’s, Oxon, before the University, Decem. 10. 1661.”, in Twelve Sermons upon Several Subjects and Occasions, volume III, London: […] Tho[mas] Warren for Thomas Bennet […], →OCLC, pages 207–208:
[A] Man ſhould fix and fore-arm his Mind vvith this ſettled Perſvvaſion, that, during that Commotion of his Blood and Spirits, in vvhich Paſſion properly conſiſts, vvhatſoever is offered to the Imagination in favour of it, tends only to deceive his Reaſon. It is indeed a real Trapan upon it; feeding it vvith Colours, and Appearances, inſtead of Arguments; […]1678 November 19 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1694, Robert South, “Prevention of Sin an Unvaluable Mercy: or, A Sermon Preached upon that Subject, on 1 Sam[uel] XXV. 32, 33. at Christ-Church, Oxon. Nov. 10, 1678.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume II, London: […] J[ohn] H[eptinstall] for Thomas Bennet […], →OCLC, pages 515–516:

2 more examples

But novv has this little Embryo Strength enough to thruſt itſelf into the VVorld? To hold up its Head, and to maintain its Courſe to a perfect Maturity, againſt all the Aſſaults and Batteries of Intemperance; all the Snares and Trapans that Common Life lays in its VVay to extinguiſh and ſuppreſs it?1715, Robert South, “A Sermon on Proverbs i. 32. The Prosperity of Fools shall Destroy Them.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached at Several Times, and upon Several Occasions, volume IV, London: […] G. James, for Jonah Bowyer […], →OCLC, pages 81–82:
Julian was hastily revolving whether they ought, in prudence, to accept this man's invitation, aware, by experience, how many trepans, as they were then termed, were used betwixt two contending factions, […]1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 159:

Archaic, Obsolete A person (or occasionally an animal) that traps or tricks another into doing something that benefits them but harms the victim; a fraudster, a swindler, a trickster.

Probably originally thieves' cant

[O]ld associates who had once thought him [Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston] a man of dauntless courage and spotless honour, […] now pronounced that he was at best a meanspirited coward, and hinted their suspicions that he had been from the beginning a spy and a trepan.1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XVII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume IV, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 32:

trapan

verb

To catch or entrap (a person or animal) in a snare or trap; to ensnare, to trap.

Each of 'em has a ſev'ral Gin, / To catch Intelligences in. / Some by the Noſe vvith fumes trapan 'em, / As Dunſtan did the Devil's Grannum.1663 (indicated as 1664), [Samuel Butler], “Canto III”, in Hudibras. The Second Part. […], London: […] T[homas] R[oycroft] for John Martyn, and James Allestry […], →OCLC, page 175:
"I cannot think," he said, after a moment's pause, "that the fellow means to trepan us; and in any event, I trust we should have no difficulty in forcing the door, or otherwise making an escape.[…]"1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 163:

Figuratively To trap or trick (someone), especially by using some stratagem, into doing something that benefits the perpetrator but harms the victim; to defraud, to ensnare, to entrap, to swindle.

[…] [Edmund] Plovvden being of the Romiſh perſvvaſion, ſome Setters trapanned him (pardon the prolepſis) to hear Maſſe: But aftervvards Plovvden underſtanding, that the pretender to Officiate vvas no Prieſt, but a meer Lay-man (on deſigne to make a diſcovering) Oh! The caſe is altered quoth Plovvden: No Priest, no Maſſe.a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “Shrop-shire”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC, page 3:
And haſt thou trepan'd me into a Tabernacle of the Godly? Is this Pious Boarding-houſe a place for me, thou vvicked Varlet?1677 (date written), John Dryden, The Kind Keeper; or, Mr. Limberham: A Comedy: […], London: […] R[ichard] Bentley, and M[ary] Magnes, […], published 1680, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:

4 more examples

[H]e hoped he did not intend to make uſe of him to trepan a man to his ruin.a. 1716 (date written), [Gilbert] Burnet, “Book III. Of the Rest of King Charles II’s Reign, from the Year 1673 to the Year 1685, in which He Died.”, in [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], editor, Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume I, London: […] Thomas Ward […], published 1724, →OCLC, page 413:
The Spaniſh Captain, tho' ſurpriz'd vvith the Stratagem that had brought him thus into the Hands of his Enemies, and greatly enrag'd in his Mind at being circumvented, and trapann'd out of his Ship, yet ſhevv'd a great Preſence of Mind under his Misfortune; […]1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part I”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 12:
[H]e ſcorns to make Miſtake paſs for Payment, or to lie upon the Catch to trapan his Neighbour; in a vvord, that he is a fair, dovvnright, honeſt Man, God has bleſt him, and every Body gives him a good VVord.1727, [Daniel Defoe], “Of the Honest Tradesman, when by Time and Long Success in Trade, He is Grown Well to Pass, How He Ought to Govern Himself, and How to Guard against Disasters which Naturally Attend a Prosperous Circumstance in Trade”, in The Compleat English Tradesman. […], volume II, London: […] Charles Rivington […], →OCLC, part I, page 88:
O fie! Sir Peter,—vvhat, join in a plot to trepan my brother!1777 May 8 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], The School for Scandal; a Comedy; […], Dublin: [s.n.], published 1780, →OCLC, Act IV, scene [ii], page 58:

Derived terms: trapanned, trapanner, trapanning, trapanningly