jape

English

Etymology

From Middle English japen (“to joke, play tricks”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old French japer (“to bark, howl, scream”) (possibly conflated with Old French gaber (“to mock, deride”), see gab), related to Old Provençal japar, jaupar (“to bark, yelp, yap”), probably of Germanic origin, related to Old Saxon galpōn (“to cry loudly, make a noise, brag”) (Low German galpen (“to bark, howl, scream”)), Middle High German gelpfen (“to scream, bark, boast, proclaim”), Old Norse gjálpa (“to yelp”) (Swedish dialectal galpa (“to cry, screech”)). More at yelp, yawp, yap.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪp

Verb

jape (third-person singular simple present japes, present participle japing, simple past and past participle japed)

1. (intransitive) To jest; play tricks; joke; jeer.
2. (transitive) To mock; deride; gibe; trick; befool.

Noun

jape (plural japes)

1. a joke

Translations

joke

• Russian: шутка (ru) (shutka) f

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:joke

Derived terms

• bejape