The term soap has a long history dating back to the eleventh century CE, when it was known as sape and was used to describe a reddish pigment used by Germanic warriors to dye their hair for battle and intimidation purposes. Over time, the spelling evolved through variations such as saip, saep, and sope, eventually settling on its modern definition by the eighteenth century. The origin of sape can be traced back to Proto-Germanic saipon, which primarily meant “resin” but could also refer to any viscous substance, stemming from the Proto-Indo-European root seyp meaning “to pour out”. Interestingly, historical records show that in ancient times, oil was used for bathing instead of soap, leading to the adoption of saipon by other branches of the Indo-European family when they transitioned to using soap.
