Why is rope called rope?

Answer 1

From the word guide. The guy rope, guy wire, guy cable, are used to "guide" whatever they are attached to to move or not move in a particular direction. The most common seen is a guy wire on a telephone pole, placed to give tension in one guided direction so the pole cannot fall in another direction. It also distributes the load.

Answer 2

Often material that is called rope is not technically rope, and the proper use of the term has different meanings as well. The twisting of material to form a strong cord, rope, or cable, is known to have existed for about 28,000 years. The term "rope" is fairly recent, and is accepted as coming from an Old English term, rap. Today, the term rope can refer to both non-metallic rope (hemp, nylon, etc) and metallic rope, referred to as wire rope. Larger diameters of of rope are more often referred to as cables. Small diameters may simply be cord, or have other names. Many industries have terms for specific uses of a rope. Such as, on a ship, there are many names for "lines" (a rope that is use or set for a specific purpose) but very few are called "rope".