Wiktionary

caper

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Clipping of capriole.

Noun

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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
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Translations
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crime — see crime

Verb

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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.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Dutch kaper.

Noun

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caper (plural capers)

  2. A vessel formerly used by the Dutch; privateer.
Translations
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Dutch vessel — see privateer

Etymology 3

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A caper bush.

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

Noun

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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
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Translations
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Further reading

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Etymology 4

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Shortening of capercaillie.

Noun

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caper (plural capers)

  1. (Scotland) The capercaillie.
Translations
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capercaillie — see capercaillie

See also

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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From English cap +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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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

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Conjugation of caper (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple caper
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple capant
/ka.pɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle capé
/ka.pe/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present cape
/kap/ 		capes
/kap/ 		cape
/kap/ 		capons
/ka.pɔ̃/ 		capez
/ka.pe/ 		capent
/kap/
imperfect capais
/ka.pɛ/ 		capais
/ka.pɛ/ 		capait
/ka.pɛ/ 		capions
/ka.pjɔ̃/ 		capiez
/ka.pje/ 		capaient
/ka.pɛ/
past historic2 capai
/ka.pe/ 		capas
/ka.pa/ 		capa
/ka.pa/ 		capâmes
/ka.pam/ 		capâtes
/ka.pat/ 		capèrent
/ka.pɛʁ/
future caperai
/ka.pʁe/ 		caperas
/ka.pʁa/ 		capera
/ka.pʁa/ 		caperons
/ka.pʁɔ̃/ 		caperez
/ka.pʁe/ 		caperont
/ka.pʁɔ̃/
conditional caperais
/ka.pʁɛ/ 		caperais
/ka.pʁɛ/ 		caperait
/ka.pʁɛ/ 		caperions
/ka.pə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		caperiez
/ka.pə.ʁje/ 		caperaient
/ka.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 cape
/kap/ 		capes
/kap/ 		cape
/kap/ 		capions
/ka.pjɔ̃/ 		capiez
/ka.pje/ 		capent
/kap/
imperfect2 capasse
/ka.pas/ 		capasses
/ka.pas/ 		capât
/ka.pa/ 		capassions
/ka.pa.sjɔ̃/ 		capassiez
/ka.pa.sje/ 		capassent
/ka.pas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — cape
/kap/ 		— capons
/ka.pɔ̃/ 		capez
/ka.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).

Indonesian

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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capêr

  1. (colloquial, acronym) attention-seeking.

Further reading

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Latin

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Etymology

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caper

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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

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

Declension

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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

Coordinate terms

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Descendants

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

References

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  • “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

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin capere.

Verb

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caper

  1. to seize

Conjugation

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  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of caper
infinitive simple caper
compound avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2 simple capant
compound present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle capé
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (i’) tu il, elle nous vous ilz, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present cape capes cape capons capez capent
imperfect capois, capoys capois, capoys capoit, capoyt capions, capyons capiez, capyez capoient, capoyent
past historic capa capas capa capasmes capastes caperent
future caperai, caperay caperas capera caperons caperez caperont
conditional caperois, caperoys caperois, caperoys caperoit, caperoyt caperions, caperyons caperiez, caperyez caperoient, caperoyent
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que ie (i’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present cape capes cape capons capez capent
imperfect capasse capasses capast capassions capassiez capassent
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — cape — capons capez —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Norwegian Bokmål

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Noun

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caper m

  1. indefinite plural of cape

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian cappero.

Noun

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caper m (plural caperi)

  1. caper (a plant)

Declension

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Declension of caper
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) caper caperul (niște) caperi caperii
genitive/dative (unui) caper caperului (unor) caperi caperilor
vocative caperule caperilor
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