jackanape
English edit
Etymology edit
Back-formation from jackanapes.
Adjective edit
jackanape (comparative more jackanape, superlative most jackanape)
- Of or pertaining to a jackanapes.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
- I will teach a scurvy jackanape priest to meddle or make.
Noun edit
jackanape (plural jackanapes)
- A jackanapes.
Usage notes edit
Originally and most commonly, jackanapes is written with a terminal -s, despite being used for the singular. Analyzing the -s as a plural suffix and removing it yields jackanape, which may be proscribed as incorrect, but sees some use.
References edit
- “Attraction in English”, Charles P. G. Scott, Transactions of the American Philological Association, volume 25, 1893, p. 113