Loppe

f. A flea(?), a spider(?); also a silk-worm :-- Furþum ðeós lytle loppe hine hwílum deádne gedéþ even this little flea sometimes kills him, Bt. 16, 2; Fox 52, 13. Seolucwyrm oððe sídwyrm oððe loppe bombix, Wrt. Voc. ii. 12, 23 (or is this a different word, corresponding to another meaning of bombix, 'silk or fine wool;' cf. Icel. lyppa wool drawn into a long hank before being spun? In Ps. Lamb. 38, 12 sicut araneam is glossed 'swá swá ǽtterloppan'; if this is not a mistake for 'áttercoppan,' by which the word is rendered in Ps. Spl. 38, 15, 'loppe' would be rather a spider than a flea, and the same word might be used for the silk worm, as both insects are spinners. And in Wrt. Voc. 24, 1 loppe (apparently however intended to be a Latin word) is given as the equivalent of 'fleónde næddre vel áttorcoppe.') [Lop a flea, in some dialects, Dan. loppe.] loppe