skipper

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskɪp.ə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈskɪpɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪpə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From Middle English skippere, skyppere, scippere, borrowed from Middle Dutch scipper, schipper, from Old Dutch *skipāri, from Proto-Germanic *skipārijaz. Piecewise doublet of shipper, from ship +‎ -er.

Noun

skipper (plural skippers)

1. (nautical) The master of a ship.

   Synonyms: master, captain

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.

2. A coach, director, or other leader.
3. (sports) The captain of a sports team such as football, cricket, rugby or curling.
   • 2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC‎:

     But even the return of skipper Steven Gerrard from a six-week injury layoff could not inspire Liverpool

Derived terms

Descendants

• → German: Skipper

Translations

Verb

skipper (third-person singular simple present skippers, present participle skippering, simple past and past participle skippered)

1. (transitive) To captain a ship or a sports team.
   • 2019, Tony Perrottet, “A Deep Dive Into the Plans to Take Tourists to the ‘Titanic’”, in Smithsonian Magazine:

     Tourist subs, which could once be skippered by anyone with a U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license

Etymology 2

From Middle English skippere, skyppare, equivalent to skip +‎ -er.

Noun

skipper (plural skippers)

1. Agent noun of skip: one who skips.
2. A person who skips, or fails to attend class.
3. (sports) One who jumps rope.
4. Any of various butterflies of the families Hesperiidae and its subfamily Megathyminae, having a hairy mothlike body, hooked tips on the antennae, and a darting flight pattern.
   • c. 1864, John Clare, We passed by green closes:

     Blue skippers in sunny hours ope and shut
     Where wormwood and grunsel flowers by the cart ruts […]

5. Any of several marine fishes that often leap above water, especially Cololabis saira (Pacific saury) and Sprattus sprattus (European sprat).
6. (obsolete) A young, thoughtless person.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Skipper, stand back; 'tis age that nourisheth

7. The cheese maggot, the larva of a cheese fly (family Piophilidae), which leaps to escape predators.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Probably from Welsh ysgubor (“a barn”).

Noun

skipper (plural skippers)

1. A barn or shed in which to shelter for the night.

Derived terms

• skipper-bird

Verb

skipper (third-person singular simple present skippers, present participle skippering, simple past and past participle skippered)

1. (intransitive) To take shelter in a barn or shed.

Etymology 4

Unknown, perhaps related to jumper.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskɪp.ə(ɹ)/

Noun

skipper (plural skippers)

1. (South Africa) A short-sleeved (or long-sleeved) tee-shirt, or sweatshirt.

   Synonyms: jumper, tee-shirt

   • 1971, Golden City Post, 26 June

     Plain nylon doeks...Men's knitted skippers, long sleeves, three buttons in front.

   • 1987, w:Eastern Province Herald, 19 August

     The special constables..were issued with one pair of boots, two overalls, one raincoat, and two skippers — but no shirts or warm coats.

   • 1990 May 26, O. Musi, Drum Magazine:

     My neighbour's little boy pestered his dad for a 'Viva' T-shirt. This long-suffering man pointed out to his son that he had been sharing his w:Cosatu skipper with him.., but the kid..did not want to wear it any longer as it was not, as he put it, 'skipa sa Mandela'.

References

Anagrams

• Kippers, kippers

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English skipper.

Pronunciation 1

• IPA^(key): /ski.pœʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

skipper m (plural skippers)

1. skipper

Pronunciation 2

• IPA^(key): /ski.pe/

Verb

skipper

1. to skipper

Conjugation

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English skipper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈskip.per/
• Rhymes: -ipper
• Hyphenation: skìp‧per

Noun

skipper m (invariable)

1. (nautical) skipper (person in charge of a vessel)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Middle Low German schipper.

Noun

skipper m (definite singular skipperen, indefinite plural skippere, definite plural skipperne)

1. (nautical) a skipper

Derived terms

• fiskeskipper

References

• “skipper” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Middle Low German schipper.

Noun

skipper m (definite singular skipperen, indefinite plural skipperar, definite plural skipperane)

1. (nautical) a skipper

Derived terms

• fiskeskipper

References

• “skipper” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.