piper

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English piper, pipere; equivalent to pipe +‎ -er. Piecewise doublet of fifer.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpaɪ.pə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpaɪ.pɚ/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌɪ.pɚ/
• Rhymes: -aɪpə(ɹ)

Noun

piper (plural pipers)

1. A musician who plays a pipe.
2. A bagpiper.
   • 2020 May 20, “Railway remembers VE Day with a series of tributes”, in Rail, page 15:

     At Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley, the sounding of train horns was followed by a lone piper playing When the Battle's Over.

3. A baby pigeon.
4. A common European gurnard (Trigla lyra), having a large head, with prominent nasal projection, and with large, sharp, opercular spines.
5. A sea urchin (Cidaris cidaris) with very long spines, native to the American and European coasts.
6. (slang, obsolete) A broken-winded hack horse.

Synonyms

• (bagpiper): bagpiper
• (baby pigeon): squab, baby pigeon, pigeon chick

Derived terms

Related terms

• bagpiper
• hornpiper

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

piper

1. Archaic form of pepper.

Anagrams

• PIREP

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• piperu, chiper

Etymology

From Greek πιπέρι (pipéri), from Ancient Greek πέπερι (péperi).

Noun

piper m

1. pepper (plant)
2. pepper (spice)

Derived terms

• mpipiredz

See also

• pipercã
• sari

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

piper

1. to pipe (a bagpipe)

Conjugation

Derived terms

• ne pas piper mot
• sans piper mot

References

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

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πέπερι (péperi, “pepper”), via Middle Persian from an Indo-Aryan source, ultimately from Sanskrit पिप्पलि (pippali, “long pepper”), itself of unknown origin (perhaps a Dravidian or other substrate language of the Indian subcontinent). The declension was changed to a rhotic-stem.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.per/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpi.per/,

Noun

piper n (genitive piperis); third declension

1. pepper
   • compiled by 5th century CE, Apicius, De Re Coquinaria 4.12:

     ...Et, cum siccaverint, super aspargis piper tritum et inferes. Ad mensam nemo agnoscet quid manducet.

     ...And, when they get dry, sprinkle mashed pepper on them, and serve. At the table, no one will know what they're eating.

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Derived terms

• piperātārius
• piperātōrium
• piperātum
• piperātus
• piperita
• piperō (“bell pepper”)
  • Italian: peperone
  • Emilian: puvron, pevron, pivron
  • Ligurian: pevión, povrón, peverón, peveión
  • Lombard: peveron, pieron, povron
  • Piedmontese: povron, puvron, pevron, pouron
    • → Vivaro-Alpine: povron, puvron (Valadas)
  • Romagnol: pevaron, piviron, povaron
  • Franco-Provençal: pêvron, povrun, peivron, póuron
  • French: poivron
  • Occitan: pebron (also pebròt, peberòt, cf. Catalan pebrot)

Related terms

• piperītis

Descendants

References

• “piper”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “piper”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• piper in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “piper”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “piper”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English pīpere; equivalent to pipe +‎ -er; compare Old Norse pípari and Old High German pfīfari.

Alternative forms

• pipare, pipere, pyper, pypere, pypare

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːpər(ə)/

Noun

piper (plural pipers)

1. A piper; one who plays a pipe.

Descendants

• English: piper
• Scots: piper
• Yola: peepeare, pipere

References

• “peper, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2022-01-04.

Etymology 2

Noun

piper

1. Alternative form of peper

Norman

Verb

piper

1. (Jersey, onomatopoeia) to peep

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

piper m or f

1. indefinite plural of pipe

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• pipur, pipor (old spelling or dialectal)
• pipo (dialectal)

Noun

piper f

1. indefinite plural of pipe

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpi.per/

Noun

piper m

1. Alternative form of pipor

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Bulgarian пипе́р (pipér), from Proto-Slavic *pьpьrь, from Latin piper, from Ancient Greek πέπερι (péperi), from Sanskrit पिप्पलि (pippali).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

piper m (plural piperi)

1. pepper (plant)
2. pepper (spice)

Declension

See also

• sare

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːpɛr/

Verb

piper

1. present indicative of pipa

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian piper, from Proto-West Germanic *pipar.

Noun

piper c (plural pipers, diminutive piperke)

1. pepper (spice)

Further reading

• “piper”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011