nep

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nep"

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Nepali or Nepali नेपाली (nepālī).

Symbol

nep

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Nepali.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Nepali terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɛp/
• Rhymes: -ɛp

Etymology 1

From Middle English neppe, nepe, nepte, nept, from Old English nepte, nefte, from Latin nepeta. Compare Dutch neppe, nippe (“catnip”). Doublet of nepeta.

Alternative forms

• nip (dialectal)

Noun

nep (usually uncountable, plural neps)

1. Catmint, catnip; Nepeta cataria.
   • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio, published 2007, page 201:

     Nep is generally used for women to procure their courses, being taken inwardly or outwardly, either alone or with other convenient herbs in a decoction to bathe them, of sit over the hot fumes thereof.

Etymology 2

Perhaps a variant of nap for knap, from Middle English knep, kneppe, knappe, a conflation of Old English cnep, cnæp, cnæpp (“top, knop, summit”) and Old Norse knappr (“knob”), both from Proto-Germanic *knappaz, *knappô (“knob”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnebʰ- (“to press, tighten”), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- (“to pinch, squeeze, bend, press together, ball”). Compare also Old Norse hnappr (“button”). Related to knob.

Noun

nep (plural neps)

1. A knot in a fibre.
   • 1987, Paula Simmons, Spinning and weaving with wool, published 1977, →ISBN, page 130:

     The neps appear as small dense areas or spots when compared to the surrounding fibers.

Derived terms

• neppy

Verb

nep (third-person singular simple present neps, present participle nepping, simple past and past participle nepped)

1. (UK, dialect, intransitive) Of cotton: to form knots.

Etymology 3

Clipping of nepotist.

Noun

nep (plural neps)

1. (US, slang, derogatory) One who engages in nepotism, usually to the one who benefits from it.

Anagrams

• PEN, PNe, Pen, pen

Ainu

Etymology

From ne (“interrogatory root”) +‎ p (“thing”). See nekon, nen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ne̞p]

Pronoun

nep (Kana spelling ネㇷ゚)

1. (interrogative) what

Usage notes

Less common in spoken language than hemanta.

Synonyms

• hemanta

See also

Ainu interrogative pronouns

Personal			Qualitative	Quantitative	Temporal	Spacial
what?	who?	which?	what kind of? how?	how many?	when?	where?
hemanta, nep	hunna, nen	inan	mak, makanak, nekon	henpak	henpara	hunak

Chungli Ao

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nap (“snot”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɯp˩/, [nɯp˩]

Noun

nep

1. snot

Further reading

• Bruhn, Daniel (2010), “Unearthing the Roots: Ao and Proto-Tibeto-Burman — The Rimes”, in UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report‎^[1], volume 6, number 6, University of California, Berkeley, →DOI, page 228
• Clark, Mary M. (1893), Ao Naga grammar with illustrative phrases and vocabulary, Molung: Assam Secretariat Printing Office, page 162

Dutch

Etymology

From German Nepp. Originally Bargoens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɛp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nep
• Rhymes: -ɛp

Noun

nep m (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. imitation, fake

Adjective

nep (comparative nepper, superlative nepst)

1. fake, not real
2. artificial, not natural

Declension

Some Dutch speakers may consider attributive use of this adjective informal. Thus, the inflected form neppe is not very commonly used in more formal language. In such language, the word is used more often in compounds formed by prefixing with nep-. The predicative and partitive forms are used normally.

Declension of nep
uninflected	nep
inflected	neppe
comparative	nepper
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		nep	nepper	het nepst het nepste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	neppe	neppere	nepste
	n. sing.	nep	nepper	nepste
	plural	neppe	neppere	nepste
definite		neppe	neppere	nepste
partitive		neps	neppers	—

Synonyms

• namaak

Antonyms

• authentiek
• echt
• natuurlijk

Derived terms

• nepneutraliteit
• nepnieuws
• nepperd
• nepvlees

Anagrams

• pen

Middle English

Noun

nep

1. alternative form of nap (“drinking bowl”)

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /neːp/

Adjective

nēp

1. scanty, lacking

Derived terms

• nēpflōd

References

• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “nép”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.