French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French frapper, from Old French fraper, frapper (to deliver a blow to someone, hit, strike), from Frankish *hrapōn (to snatch, scuffle), from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną, *hrapjaną (to touch, scratch), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krep-, *(s)kreb- (to scratch, engrave). Cognate with Old High German hraffōn (to take over, seize) (whence German raffen (to gather up, heap)), Old English hreppan (to touch, treat), Old Norse hrappa (to handle roughly), North Frisian rippe (to move, stir).

For the Romance substitution of [fr] for Germanic [xr] compare also freux, froc, frimas, etc.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /fʁa.pe/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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frapper

  1. to hit, to strike, to bash
    Il m’a frappé le bras.He hit me on the arm.
  2. to knock (e.g. on a door)
    • 1978, “Aimer d'amour”, performed by Boule Noire:
      L’amour ne vient pas souvent / Frapper au bon moment / Quand il vient te voir / Faut savoir le recevoir
      Love does not often come / Knocking at the right moment / When it comes to see you / You must know how to let it in
    • 2006, “Un Ange Frappe À Ma Porte”, in Longueur D'Ondes, performed by Natasha St. Pier:
      Un ange frappe à ma porte
      An angel knocks at my door
  3. to bang (to get attention)
  4. (music) to beat time (as a conductor)
  5. (music) to strike (a chord)
  6. to strike down
    frappé par Dieustruck down by God
  7. to hit (to be affected by a punishment)
  8. (figuratively) to strike
    frapper l’imaginationto strike the imagination.
  9. (bartending) to shake

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • German: frappieren
  • Polish: frapować

Further reading

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Middle French

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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frapper

  1. to hit; to strike

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.

Descendants

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