Sop

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For the various acronyms, see SOP.

A sop is a piece of bread or toast with which liquid food of some sort is soaked up and then eaten. In medieval cuisine the sop was one of the most common dishes. It was composed of various liquids such as wine, soup or broth served with bread that was meant to be picked apart to soak up the food. At elaborate feasts bread was often pre-cut into finger-sized pieces rather than broken off by the diners themselves. The modern term for soup is directly derived from the sop.

In modern English the word has also taken on the meaning of a pitiful offering after much suffering.