ape

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See also: Ape, APE, ápe, åpe, apé, apê, apë, and a pé

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
An ape: the silvery gibbon

Pronunciation

  • enPR: āp, IPA(key): /eɪp/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪp

Etymology 1

From Middle English ape, from Old English apa (ape, monkey), from Proto-West Germanic *apō, from Proto-Germanic *apô (monkey, ape), possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (water), compare Proto-Celtic *abū (river) (hence English place name Avon, Irish abha, Welsh afon), if the word originally referred to a "water sprite". Traditionally assumed to be an ancient loanword instead, ultimately probably from an unidentified non-Indo-European language of regions in Africa or Asia where monkeys are native. Cognate with Scots aip (ape), West Frisian aap (ape), Dutch aap (monkey, ape), Low German Ape (ape), German Affe (monkey, ape), Swedish apa (monkey, ape), Icelandic api (ape).

Noun

ape (plural apes)

  1. A primate of the clade Hominoidea, generally larger than monkeys and distinguished from them by having no tail.
    • 1528 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), William Tyndale, “William Tyndale other wise Called William Hychins vnto the Reader”, in The Obediẽce of a Christen Man , : , →OCLC, folio xix, recto:
      Of vvhat texte thou proveſt hell / vvill a nother prove purgatory / a nother lymbo patrum / and a nother the aſſumpcion of oure ladi: And a nother ſhall prove of the ſame texte that an Ape hath a tayle.
  2. Any such primate other than a human.
  3. (derogatory) An uncivilized person.
  4. One who apes; a foolish imitator.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

ape (third-person singular simple present apes, present participle aping or apeing, simple past and past participle aped)

  1. (intransitive) To behave like an ape.
  2. (transitive) To imitate or mimic, particularly to imitate poorly.
    • 1772, [Thomas Bridges], “Something by Way of Preface”, in A Burlesque Translation of Homer, London: Printed for S. Hooper, , →OCLC:
      And well their dignity it ſuits, / To ape the gravity of brutes.
    • 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter XXI, in Wuthering Heights:
      But there’s this difference; one is gold put to the use of paving-stones, and the other is tin polished to ape a service of silver.
    • 1961, J. A. Philip, “Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato,”, in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, volume 92, page 454:
      It is not conceived as a mere “aping” in externals nor as an enacting in the sense of assuming a foreign role.
    • 2010, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, New York: Random House, →ISBN, page 180:
      Every year a paper or a book appears, bemoaning the fate of economics and complaining about its attempts to ape physics.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of apeshit (ape-shit (crazy)).

Adjective

ape (not comparable)

  1. (slang) Wild; crazy.
    We were ape over the new look.
    He went ape when he heard the bad news.

See also

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Noun

ape

  1. plural of aap

Aromanian

Etymology

From Latin aqua.

Pronunciation

Noun

ape f (plural api, definite articulation apa)

  1. Alternative form of apã

Corsican

Noun

ape

  1. plural of apa

Finnish

Etymology

appaa +‎ -e

Pronunciation

Noun

ape

  1. horse feed
  2. (colloquial) food

Declension

Inflection of ape (Kotus type 48*B/hame, pp-p gradation)
nominative ape appeet
genitive appeen appeiden
appeitten
partitive apetta appeita
illative appeeseen appeisiin
appeihin
singular plural
nominative ape appeet
accusative nom. ape appeet
gen. appeen
genitive appeen appeiden
appeitten
partitive apetta appeita
inessive appeessa appeissa
elative appeesta appeista
illative appeeseen appeisiin
appeihin
adessive appeella appeilla
ablative appeelta appeilta
allative appeelle appeille
essive appeena appeina
translative appeeksi appeiksi
abessive appeetta appeitta
instructive appein
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of ape (Kotus type 48*B/hame, pp-p gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative appeeni appeeni
accusative nom. appeeni appeeni
gen. appeeni
genitive appeeni appeideni
appeitteni
partitive apettani appeitani
inessive appeessani appeissani
elative appeestani appeistani
illative appeeseeni appeisiini
appeihini
adessive appeellani appeillani
ablative appeeltani appeiltani
allative appeelleni appeilleni
essive appeenani appeinani
translative appeekseni appeikseni
abessive appeettani appeittani
instructive
comitative appeineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative appeesi appeesi
accusative nom. appeesi appeesi
gen. appeesi
genitive appeesi appeidesi
appeittesi
partitive apettasi appeitasi
inessive appeessasi appeissasi
elative appeestasi appeistasi
illative appeeseesi appeisiisi
appeihisi
adessive appeellasi appeillasi
ablative appeeltasi appeiltasi
allative appeellesi appeillesi
essive appeenasi appeinasi
translative appeeksesi appeiksesi
abessive appeettasi appeittasi
instructive
comitative appeinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative appeemme appeemme
accusative nom. appeemme appeemme
gen. appeemme
genitive appeemme appeidemme
appeittemme
partitive apettamme appeitamme
inessive appeessamme appeissamme
elative appeestamme appeistamme
illative appeeseemme appeisiimme
appeihimme
adessive appeellamme appeillamme
ablative appeeltamme appeiltamme
allative appeellemme appeillemme
essive appeenamme appeinamme
translative appeeksemme appeiksemme
abessive appeettamme appeittamme
instructive
comitative appeinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative appeenne appeenne
accusative nom. appeenne appeenne
gen. appeenne
genitive appeenne appeidenne
appeittenne
partitive apettanne appeitanne
inessive appeessanne appeissanne
elative appeestanne appeistanne
illative appeeseenne appeisiinne
appeihinne
adessive appeellanne appeillanne
ablative appeeltanne appeiltanne
allative appeellenne appeillenne
essive appeenanne appeinanne
translative appeeksenne appeiksenne
abessive appeettanne appeittanne
instructive
comitative appeinenne

Further reading

Guaraní

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Noun

ape

  1. back

Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin apis, apem.

Noun

ape (plural apes)

  1. bee

Italian

Etymology

From Latin apem.

Pronunciation

Noun

ape f (plural api)

  1. (entomology) bee
    Synonym: pecchia
  2. (colloquial) honeybee
    Synonyms: ape da miele, ape domestica

Further reading

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

ape

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of apō

References

Mauritian Creole

Alternative forms

Etymology

From French après. Compare Haitian Creole ap.

Pronunciation

Verb

ape (medial form ape)

  1. (auxiliary) Used to indicate present progressive tense or the continuous tense in general, commonly shortened to "pe" in speech.

Mbyá Guaraní

Noun

ape (non-possessed form tape)

  1. path
  2. road, street

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English apa, from Proto-West Germanic *apō, from Proto-Germanic *apô.

Pronunciation

Noun

ape (plural apes or apen)

  1. An ape or monkey; a simian creature.
  2. A deceiver; a conman or charlatan.
  3. A gullible or foolish person.

Descendants

  • English: ape
  • Scots: ape, aip

References

Neapolitan

Noun

ape

  1. plural of apa

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Norse api.

Noun

ape f or m (definite singular apa or apen, indefinite plural aper, definite plural apene)

  1. ape, monkey

Etymology 2

Verb

ape (imperative ap, present tense aper, passive apes, simple past apa or apet or apte, past participle apa or apet or apt, present participle apende)

  1. to ape, mimic or imitate.

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse api.

Noun

ape m (definite singular apen, indefinite plural apar, definite plural apane)

ape f (definite singular apa, indefinite plural aper, definite plural apene)

  1. ape, monkey

Etymology 2

Verb

ape (present tense apar, past tense apa, past participle apa, passive infinitive apast, present participle apande, imperative ape/ap)

  1. e-infinitive form of apa

References

Romanian

Pronunciation

Noun

ape

  1. inflection of apă:
    1. plural
    2. genitive/dative singular

Sardinian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin apis, apem. Compare Logudorese abe, Campidanese abi.

Pronunciation

Noun

ape f (plural apes)

  1. (Nuorese) bee

Derived terms

References

  • Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964) Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg
  • Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes