jape
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English japen (“to joke, play tricks”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French japer (“to bark, howl, scream”) (possibly conflated with Old French gaber (“to mock, deride”), see gab), related to Old Occitan japar, jaupar (“to bark, yelp, yap”), probably of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 333: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "gem" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. 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
Noun
jape (plural japes)
- A joke or quip.
- c. 1390 Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Pardoner's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales:
- "Thou bel ami, thou Pardoner," he said,
- "Tell us some mirth of japes right anon."
- 1920, Jeffery Farnol, The Geste of Duke Jocelyn, Fytte 9:
- [H]e clapped hand to thigh, and laughed and laughed until the air rang again.
- "Oho, a jape—a jape indeed!" he roared.
- c. 1390 Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Pardoner's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales:
- A prank or trick.
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:joke
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
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- (intransitive) To jest; play tricks; joke.
- 1886, Andrew Lang, "To Sir John Manndeville" in Letters to Dead Authors:
- Now the Lond of Egypt longeth to the Soudan, yet the Soudan longeth not to the Lond of Egypt. And when I say this, I do jape with words, and may hap ye understond me not.
- 1886, Andrew Lang, "To Sir John Manndeville" in Letters to Dead Authors:
- (transitive) To mock; deride; gibe; trick; befool.