Meaning

noun the upper side of the thighs of a seated person

noun an area of control or responsibility

noun the part of a piece of clothing that covers the thighs

originFrom Middle English lappen (“to fold, wrap”) from earlier wlappen (“to fold, wrap”), from Old English *wlappan, *wlæppan, *wlappian (“to wrap”), from Proto-Germanic *wlapp-, *wrapp- (“to wrap, fold, roll up, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind”), Old Italian goluppare (“to wrap, fold…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0