taper

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Rukhabot (talk | contribs) as of 11:43, 4 August 2022.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: táper and tåper

English

WOTD – 2 May 2007

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈteɪpə/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈteɪpɚ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (AU):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪpə(ɹ)
  • Homophone: tapir

Etymology 1

From Middle English taper, from Old English tapor (“taper, candle, wick of a lamp”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Latin papyrus (“papyrus", used in Mediaeval times to mean "wick of a candle”). If so, it is a doublet of papyrus and paper. Alternatively, of Celtic origin related to Irish tapar (“taper”), Welsh tampr (“a taper, torch”); further compare Sanskrit तपती (tápati, “(it) warms, gives out heat, is hot; (it) heats”). More at tepid.

tapers (slender wax candles)

Noun

taper (plural tapers)

  1. A slender wax candle.
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 311, line 157:
      Strike on the Tinder, hoa: / Giue me a Taper: […]
    • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 376, column 2:
      Take not away the Taper, leaue it burning:
    • 1813 August 13, Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Isaac McPherson:
      He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.
    • 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Francesca Carrara, volume 3, page 160:
      The red glare of the tapers flung a strange unnatural hue on the painted windows of the little Gothic chapel, where none slept save the noble of name, and the high of blood—purple and crimson, the colours mingled together in fantastic combinations, till the rainbow-hued figures seemed to move with supernatural life.
    • 1913, Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Change
      Love used to carry a bow, you know,
      But now he carries a taper;
      It is either a length of wax aglow,
      Or a twist of lighted paper.
  2. (by extension) A small light.
  3. A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness and/or cross section in an elongated object.
    the taper of a spire
    The legs of the table had a slight taper to them.
    • 2005, Michael Ellis, Apollo Rises (page 15)
      Her hair hangs over her ears and flows to a taper at the back of her neck where it is held in place with a wide and circular black clasp.
  4. A thin stick used for lighting candles, either a wax-coated wick or a slow-burning wooden rod.
  5. A cone-shaped item for stretching the hole for an ear gauge (piercing).
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

taper (third-person singular simple present tapers, present participle tapering, simple past and past participle tapered)

  1. (transitive) To make thinner or narrower at one end.
  2. (intransitive) To diminish gradually.
  3. (intransitive) (of a central bank) To tighten monetary policy.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective

taper

  1. Tapered; narrowing to a point.

Etymology 2

tape +‎ -er

Noun

taper (plural tapers)

  1. (weaving) One who operates a tape machine.
  2. Someone who works with tape or tapes.

Anagrams

Danish

Verb

taper

  1. (deprecated template usage) present of tape

French

Etymology

From Middle French taper, from Old French tapper, taper (“to tap”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *tappōn, *dabbōn (“to strike”) or from Middle Low German tappen, tapen (“to tap, rap, strike”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dab- (“to strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰebʰ- (“to beat, strike, stun, be speechless”). Related to German tappen (“to grope, fumble”), Dutch deppen (“to dab”), Icelandic tappa, tapsa, tæpta (“to tap”). Related to dab.

Pronunciation

Verb

taper

  1. (transitive) to slap, knock, beat
  2. (transitive) to type (use a keyboard or typewriter)
  3. Template:indtr to hit, beat, rap
  4. (intransitive) to beat down (of the sun); to go to one's head (of wine etc.)
  5. (intransitive, slang) to stink, pong, reek
  6. (reflexive, slang) to put away (a meal etc.)
    Je me suis tapé un bon petit hamburger hier soir.
    I put away a good, tiny hamburger last night.
  7. (reflexive, vulgar, slang) to fuck (have sex)
    Il s’est tapé la fille de son patron.
    He fucked his boss' daughter.
  8. (reflexive) to put up with
    J’ai dû me taper trois heures d’embouteillage pour rejoindre l’aéroport.
    I had to put up with three hours of traffic jam to get to the airport.

Conjugation

Conjugation of taper (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple taper
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple tapant
/ta.pɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle tapé
/ta.pe/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present tape
/tap/ 		tapes
/tap/ 		tape
/tap/ 		tapons
/ta.pɔ̃/ 		tapez
/ta.pe/ 		tapent
/tap/
imperfect tapais
/ta.pɛ/ 		tapais
/ta.pɛ/ 		tapait
/ta.pɛ/ 		tapions
/ta.pjɔ̃/ 		tapiez
/ta.pje/ 		tapaient
/ta.pɛ/
past historic2 tapai
/ta.pe/ 		tapas
/ta.pa/ 		tapa
/ta.pa/ 		tapâmes
/ta.pam/ 		tapâtes
/ta.pat/ 		tapèrent
/ta.pɛʁ/
future taperai
/ta.pʁe/ 		taperas
/ta.pʁa/ 		tapera
/ta.pʁa/ 		taperons
/ta.pʁɔ̃/ 		taperez
/ta.pʁe/ 		taperont
/ta.pʁɔ̃/
conditional taperais
/ta.pʁɛ/ 		taperais
/ta.pʁɛ/ 		taperait
/ta.pʁɛ/ 		taperions
/ta.pə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		taperiez
/ta.pə.ʁje/ 		taperaient
/ta.pʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present tape
/tap/ 		tapes
/tap/ 		tape
/tap/ 		tapions
/ta.pjɔ̃/ 		tapiez
/ta.pje/ 		tapent
/tap/
imperfect2 tapasse
/ta.pas/ 		tapasses
/ta.pas/ 		tapât
/ta.pa/ 		tapassions
/ta.pa.sjɔ̃/ 		tapassiez
/ta.pa.sje/ 		tapassent
/ta.pas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — tape
/tap/ 		— tapons
/ta.pɔ̃/ 		tapez
/ta.pe/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English tapor, possibly from Latin papȳrus (if so, a doublet of paper).

Pronunciation

Noun

taper (plural tapres)

  1. taper (thin candle)

Descendants

  • English: taper

References

Norman

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Jersey):(file)

Verb

taper (gerund tap'thie)

  1. (Jersey, onomatopoeia) to hit, knock

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From tape (“to lose”) +‎ -er.

Noun

taper m (definite singular taperen, indefinite plural tapere, definite plural taperne)

  1. a loser

Verb

taper

  1. present tense of tape (“to lose”)

Etymology 2

Noun

taper m

  1. indefinite plural of tape

Verb

taper

  1. present tense of tape (“to tape”)

References

Anagrams

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

taper

  1. present of tape (to lose)

Walloon

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

taper

  1. to throw
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=taper&oldid=68533904"