Emily Dickinson Lexicon

THORP, n. [Sax. thorpe; D. dorp; G. dorf; Sw. and Dan. torp; W. trev; Gaelic, Ir. treabh; L. tribus.]

The word in Welsh signifies a dwelling place, a homestead, a hamlet, a town. When applied to a single house, it answers to the Sax. ham, a house, whence hamlet and home. In the Teutonic dialects, it denotes a village. The primary sense is probably a house, a habitation, from fixedness; hence a hamlet, a village, a tribe; as in rude ages the dwelling of the head of a family was soon surrounded by the houses of his children and descendants. In our language, it occurs now only in names of places and persons.