English edit

 
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Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

Clipping of capriole.

Noun edit

caper (plural capers)

  1. A playful leap or jump.
  2. A jump while dancing.
  3. A prank or practical joke.
  4. (usually in the plural) Playful behaviour.
  5. (figuratively) A crime, especially an elaborate heist, or a narrative about such a crime.
    • 2022, Jennifer Egan, “i, the Protagonist”, in The Candy House:
      His caper had failed to find a comic resolution. Instead, there had been a genre switch, and the madcap adventure had turned serious. Or had this bleakness underlain the caper from the start?
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit

Verb edit

caper (third-person singular simple present capers, present participle capering, simple past and past participle capered)

  1. To leap or jump about in a sprightly or playful manner.
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, [], →OCLC:
      He capered before them down towards the fortyfoot hole, fluttering his winglike hands, leaping nimbly, Mercury’s hat quivering in the fresh wind that bore back to them his brief birdsweet cries.
  2. To jump as part of a dance.
  3. To engage in playful behaviour.
Translations edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Dutch kaper.

Noun edit

caper (plural capers)

  1. A vessel formerly used by the Dutch; privateer.
Translations edit

Etymology 3 edit

 
A caper bush.

From Latin capparis, from Ancient Greek κάππαρις (kápparis).

Noun edit

caper (plural capers)

  1. The pungent grayish green flower bud of the European and Oriental caper (Capparis spinosa), which is pickled and eaten.
    Synonym: caperberry
  2. A plant of the genus Capparis.
    Synonyms: caper bush, caper tree, caperberry
Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Further reading edit

Etymology 4 edit

Shortening of capercaillie.

Noun edit

caper (plural capers)

  1. (Scotland) The capercaillie.
Translations edit

See also edit

Anagrams edit

French edit

Etymology edit

From English cap +‎ -er.

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

caper

  1. (finance) to cap (set a limit to)
  2. (sports) to cap (award a player a cap for playing for their national team)

Conjugation edit

Indonesian edit

Etymology edit

From blend of cari (seeking) +‎ perhatian (attention), from calque of English attention-seeking.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈt͡ʃapər]
  • Hyphenation: ca‧pêr

Adjective edit

capêr

  1. (colloquial, acronym) attention-seeking.

Further reading edit

Latin edit

Etymology edit

 
caper

From Proto-Italic *kapros, from Proto-Indo-European *kápros (buck, he-goat).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

caper m (genitive caprī, feminine capra); second declension

  1. he-goat (a male goat, a billy goat)
    Synonyms: buccus, hircus

Declension edit

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative caper caprī
Genitive caprī caprōrum
Dative caprō caprīs
Accusative caprum caprōs
Ablative caprō caprīs
Vocative caper caprī

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Italian: capro
  • French: chevron
  • Romanian: capră
  • Portuguese: cabro
  • Spanish: cabro, cabrón
  • Scottish Gaelic: cabar

References edit

  • caper”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • caper”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • caper in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
  • caper”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • caper”, in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Middle French edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin capere.

Verb edit

caper

  1. to seize

Conjugation edit

  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Norwegian Bokmål edit

Noun edit

caper m

  1. indefinite plural of cape

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Italian cappero.

Noun edit

caper m (plural caperi)

  1. caper (a plant)

Declension edit