lope

English

Etymology

Alteration of loup, from Old Norse hlaupa (“to leap, jump”). See leap. Cognate with German laufen (“walk, run”), Danish løbe, Dutch lopen (“walk, run”), Norwegian løpe (“run”). Doublet of leap.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ləʊp/
• (US) IPA^(key): /loʊp/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊp
• Homophone: Lop

Verb

lope (third-person singular simple present lopes, present participle loping, simple past and past participle loped)

1. To travel an easy pace with long strides.

   He loped along, hour after hour, not fast but steady and covering much ground.

   • 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 5, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 5:

     And as we waited in the car Victor got out and loped over to the house and said a few words to an old lady, […]

   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     “And the holidays?” Murgo proposed one evening as they loped down a bridlepath past lovers fondling in the grass. “Fun, are they? High living?”

2. (obsolete, intransitive) To jump, leap.
   • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum xxxv”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book IX, by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur , London: David Nutt, , 1889, →OCLC:

     And as he cam by a ryver, in hys woodnes he wolde have made hys horse to have lopyn over the watir; and the horse fayled footyng and felle in the ryver

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1621-22, Thomas Middleton et al, The Spanish Gypsy

     he that lopes on the ropes

Derived terms

• loper

Related terms

• elope
• interlope

Translations

Noun

lope (plural lopes)

1. An easy pace with long strides.
   • 1931, Home Geographic Monthly, volumes 1-2, page 45:

     Hares have larger, leaner bodies, longer legs, and longer ears than the true rabbit. They also run with a lope instead of a hop. It is thought that they developed this more stream-lined body and swifter gait from running on the plains […]

Translations

References

Anagrams

• LEPO, Pole, olpe, pleo-, pole

Afrikaans

Noun

lope

1. plural of loop

Chinook Jargon

Etymology

Borrowed from English rope.

Noun

lope

1. rope

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

lope

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of lopen

Anagrams

• loep, poel

French

Etymology

Clipping of salope.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔp/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

lope f (plural lopes)

1. (slang, derogatory) male homosexual
2. (by extension, derogatory) cowardly, characterless man
   • 1994, Yasmina Reza, ‘Art’:

     Marc. Si c’est grâce à lui que tu es revenu tendre ton autre joue, tu peux le remercier. Il a fait de toi une lope, mais tu es content, c’est l’essentiel.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• “lope”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Inari Sami

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Related to Northern Sami lohpi.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

lope

1. promise

Inflection

Derived terms

• lopediđ

Further reading

• lope in Marja-Liisa Olthuis, Taarna Valtonen, Miina Seurujärvi and Trond Trosterud (2015–2022) Nettidigisäänih Anarâškiela-suomakielâ-anarâškielâ sänikirje‎, Tromsø: UiT

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎, Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Pali

Alternative forms

Noun

lope

1. inflection of lopa (“cutting off”):
   1. locative singular
   2. accusative plural

Saterland Frisian

Alternative forms

• loope

Etymology

Suppletive:

• For forms starting with l-, from Old Frisian hlāpa, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaupan. Cognates include West Frisian ljeppe and German laufen.
• For forms starting with r-, from Old Frisian renna, from Proto-West Germanic *rinnan. Cognates include West Frisian rinne and German rennen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈloːpə/
• Hyphenation: lo‧pe

Verb

lope

1. (intransitive) to run
2. (intransitive) to flow
3. (intransitive) to sprout
4. (intransitive, + mäd) to interact (with)

Conjugation

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015) “lope”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN