taper

See also: táper

Contents

EnglishEdit

WOTD – 2 May 2007

PronunciationEdit

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈteɪpə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈteɪpɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪpə(ɹ)
• Homophone: tapir

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English taper, from Old English tapor (“taper, candle, wick of a lamp”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Latin papyrus (“papyrus", used in Mediaeval times to mean "wick of a candle”), or of Celtic origin related to Irish tapar (“taper”), Welsh tampr (“a taper, torch”). Compare Sanskrit तपती (tápati, “(it) warms, gives out heat; to be hot; to heat”). More at tepid.

NounEdit

taper (plural tapers)

1. A slender wax candle; a small lighted wax candle
   • ~1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act I, scene I, line 157:

     strike on the tinder, ho!/ Give me a taper.

   • 1913, Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Change

     Love used to carry a bow, you know,

     But now he carries a taper;

     It is either a length of wax aglow,

     Or a twist of lighted paper.

2. (by extension) a small light.
3. A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness and/or cross section in an elongated object

   the taper of a spire.

   The legs of the table had a slight taper to them.

4. A thin stick used for lighting candles, either a wax-coated wick or a slow-burning wooden rod.

Derived termsEdit

• taperwise

TranslationsEdit

slender wax candle

• Danish: kærte c, vokslys n
• Dutch: kaars (nl)
• French: chandelle (fr) f
• German: dünne Wachskerze f, Kerze (de) f, Leuchterkerze f

• Greek: λιανοκέρι (el) n (lianokéri), αγιοκέρι (el) n (agiokéri)
• Navajo: akʼahkǫʼ níyizígíí
• Russian: то́нкая све́чка f (tónkaja svéčka), све́чка (ru) f (svéčka)
• Swedish: vaxljus (sv) n

tapering form

• Dutch: versmalling
• Finnish: kartio (fi)
• German: Verjüngung f, Kegel (de) m, Abschrägung f

• Greek: απολέπτυνση f (apoléptynsi), κωνικότητα (el) f (konikótita)
• Russian: суже́ние (ru) n (sužénije)

VerbEdit

taper (third-person singular simple present tapers, present participle tapering, simple past and past participle tapered)

1. (transitive) To make thinner or narrower at one end.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 3

     Though true cylinders without — within, the villanous green goggling glasses deceitfully tapered downwards to a cheating bottom.

2. (intransitive) To diminish gradually.

Derived termsEdit

• taper off

SynonymsEdit

• narrow

TranslationsEdit

to make thinner or narrower at one end.

• Dutch: versmallen (nl)
• Finnish: suipentaa
• French: rétrécir (fr)
• German: verschmälern, verjüngen (de), zuspitzen, abschrägen, abdrehen (de), anschrägen

• Italian: affusolare
• Russian: заостря́ть (ru) impf (zaostrjátʹ), заостри́ть (ru) pf (zaostrítʹ)
• Spanish: adelgazar (es)
• Swedish: avsmalna

to diminish gradually

• Finnish: suipentua, suipeta
• German: abnehmen (de), sich verjüngen, sich verengen, sich zuspitzen, spitz zulaufen
• Greek: απολεπτύνομαι (apoleptýnomai), αποξύνομαι (apoxýnomai)
• Maori: kāwetoweto, hōiki

• Russian: сужа́ться (ru) impf (sužátʹsja), утонча́ться (ru) impf (utončátʹsja)
• Spanish: estrecharse (es)
• Swedish: avklinga

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} verjüngen
• Greek: ^{(please verify)} απολεπτύνω (apoleptýno)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} сужа́ть impf (sužátʹ), ^{(please verify)} утонча́ть impf (utončátʹ)

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} estrechar
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} förtunna

Etymology 2Edit

tape +‎ -er

NounEdit

taper (plural tapers)

1. (weaving) One who operates a tape machine.
2. Someone who works with tape or tapes.

AnagramsEdit

• Peart, Petra, apert, apter, pater, peart, petar, petra, prate, preta, reapt, repat, retap, trape, treap

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DanishEdit

VerbEdit

taper

1. present tense of tape

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FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle French taper, from Old French tapper, taper (“to tap”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *tappōn, *dabbōn (“to strike”) or from Middle Low German tappen, tapen (“to tap, rap, strike”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dab- (“to strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰebʰ- (“to beat, strike, stun, be speechless”). Related to German tappen (“to grope, fumble”), Dutch deppen (“to dab”), Icelandic tappa, tapsa, tæpta (“to tap”). Related to dab.

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /ta.pe/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Homophones: tapai, tapé, tapée, tapées, tapés, tapez

VerbEdit

taper

1. (transitive) to slap, knock, beat
2. (transitive) to type (use a keyboard or typewriter)
3. (intransitive, followed by the preposition sur) to hit, beat, rap
4. (intransitive) to beat down (of the sun); to go to one's head (of wine etc.)
5. (intransitive, slang) to stink, pong, reek
6. (reflexive, slang) to put away (a meal etc.)
   • Je me suis tapé un bon petit hamburger hier soir.
7. (reflexive, vulgar, slang) to fuck (have sex)
   • Il s'est tapé la fille de son patron.

ConjugationEdit

  Conjugation of taper (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		taper			avoir tapé
gerund		en tapant			en ayant tapé
present participle		tapant /ta.pɑ̃/
past participle		tapé /ta.pe/
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	tape /tap/	tapes /tap/	tape /tap/	tapons /ta.pɔ̃/	tapez /ta.pe/	tapent /tap/
	imperfect	tapais /ta.pɛ/	tapais /ta.pɛ/	tapait /ta.pɛ/	tapions /ta.pjɔ̃/	tapiez /ta.pje/	tapaient /ta.pɛ/
	past historic1	tapai /ta.pe/	tapas /ta.pa/	tapa /ta.pa/	tapâmes /ta.pam/	tapâtes /ta.pat/	tapèrent /ta.pɛʁ/
	future	taperai /ta.pʁe/	taperas /ta.pʁa/	tapera /ta.pʁa/	taperons /ta.pʁɔ̃/	taperez /ta.pʁe/	taperont /ta.pʁɔ̃/
	conditional	taperais /ta.pʁɛ/	taperais /ta.pʁɛ/	taperait /ta.pʁɛ/	taperions /ta.pə.ʁjɔ̃/	taperiez /ta.pə.ʁje/	taperaient /ta.pʁɛ/
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior1	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	tape /tap/	tapes /tap/	tape /tap/	tapions /ta.pjɔ̃/	tapiez /ta.pje/	tapent /tap/
	imperfect1	tapasse /ta.pas/	tapasses /ta.pas/	tapât /ta.pa/	tapassions /ta.pa.sjɔ̃/	tapassiez /ta.pa.sje/	tapassent /ta.pas/
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect1	Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	tape /tap/	—	tapons /ta.pɔ̃/	tapez /ta.pe/	—
1literary tenses

Derived termsEdit

Derived terms

• tapable
• tape-à-l'œil
• tapeur

• tapeuse
• tapure

See alsoEdit

• frapper
• cogner

AnagramsEdit

• parte, pâtre, prêta, tarpé

Further readingEdit

• “taper” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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NormanEdit

PronunciationEdit

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

VerbEdit

taper (gerund tap'thie)

1. (Jersey, onomatopoeia) to hit, knock

Derived termsEdit

• taper raide (“to hit hard”)

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Norwegian BokmålEdit

NounEdit

taper

1. a loser

InflectionEdit

    Declension of taper in Bokmål

		Genitive
Indefinite singular	taper	tapers
Definite singular	taperen	taperens
Indefinite plural	tapere	taperes
Definite plural	taperne	tapernes

Related termsEdit

• tapar (Nynorsk)

NounEdit

taper

1. Indefinite plural of tape

VerbEdit

taper

1. Present tense of tape (to lose)
2. (archaic) present tense of tape (to tape)

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Norwegian NynorskEdit

VerbEdit

taper

1. present tense of tape (to lose)

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WalloonEdit

EtymologyEdit

VerbEdit

taper

1. to throw