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hep. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
hep, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
hep in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
hep you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Shortening.
Noun
hep (uncountable)
- (informal) hepatitis.
- Abbreviation of high-energy physics.
Usage notes
Etymology 2
Alteration of hip.
Noun
hep (plural heps)
- (obsolete) A hip of a rose; a rosehip.
Etymology 3
US slang of unknown or disputed origin, first recorded 1903. Robert Gold suggested that it is a variant of hip, from white jazz fans’ mishearing African American musicians. Jonathon Green suggests a connection to a 19th century interjection used to drive horses; compare gee up.
Adjective
hep (comparative more hep, superlative most hep)
- (dated slang) Aware, up-to-date.
1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IX:I was pleased, as I put him hep on the Wilbert-Phyllis situation and revealed the part he was expected to play in it, to note that he showed no signs of being about to issue the presidential veto.
- (dated slang) Cool, hip, sophisticated.
1964 [1957], Colin MacInnes, City of Spades, London: Penguin Books, page 59:And I was struck to notice that though the band was only Jumble imitation of our style, it was quite a hep combination, with some feel of the beat, not like those dreadful records of the English bands I'd heard back home which never can play slow, and never can play easy to the limbs.
Derived terms
Verb
hep (third-person singular simple present heps, present participle hepping, simple past and past participle hepped)
- (dated, US slang) To make aware of.
I hepped him to the situation.
Etymology 4
Interjection
hep
- Alternative form of hup (“part of marching cadence”)
Hep, two, three four! Hep, two, three four!
Etymology 5
From German hep or Hepp-Hepp, an interjection used to attack Jewish people. The origin of the German source is unknown, but may come from a goatherd’s call.
Interjection
hep
- (historical) A rallying cry in attacks on the Jewish people.
1893, Emanuel Schreiber, Historians of Judaism in the Nineteenth Century, page 13:Let us hope that the modern “Hep-Hep” cry of Antisemitism of to-day will be accompanied by a similar level of Judaism.
References
- ^ “hep, adj.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2018.
- ^ Robert S. Gold (1964) A Jazz Lexicon, →OCLC
- ^ Jonathon Green (2024) “hep adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
- ^ “hep, n.1 and int.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2018.
See also
Anagrams
Albanian
Etymology
From Proto-Albanian *skapa, related to hap.
Noun
hep f (plural hepa, definite hepi, definite plural hepat)
- furrow, scratch
Related terms
References
Breton
Etymology
From Middle Breton hep, from Old Breton ep, from Proto-Brythonic *heb, from Proto-Celtic *sekʷo-, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“follow”). Cognate to Welsh heb.
Pronunciation
Preposition
hep
- without
Inflection
Finnish
Etymology
Perhaps originally used with horses (in the sense "giddyup"), in which case possibly a shortening of hepo; compare also hop.
Pronunciation
Interjection
hep! (colloquial)
- go! (in ready, set, go)
- used as a generic interjection to express desire or surprise or to attract attention to what is said after
Further reading
Turkish
Etymology
From Ottoman Turkish هپ (hep).
Pronunciation
Adverb
hep
- altogether
- always
Usage notes
This adverb can function as a pronoun, taking several possessive forms: hepimiz (“all of us”), hepiniz (“all of you”), and, irregularly, for the third person singular, hepsi (“all of it”). These forms may then also take case endings, just like regular pronouns.
Related terms
References