piper

See also: 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. A halfbeak (Hyporhamphus ihi) found in New Zealand.
7. (slang, obsolete) A broken-winded hack horse.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• drunk as a piper
• hornpiper
• pay the piper
• Pied Piper
• piper gurnard
• piperly
• sandpiper
• uilleann piper
• who pays the piper calls the tune

Related terms

• bagpiper
• hornpiper

Translations

musician who plays a pipe

Arabic: زَمَّار m (zammār) Bulgarian: свира́ч m (sviráč) Finnish: huilunsoittaja (fi), säkkipillinsoittaja French: joueur de pipeau m, joueuse de pipeau f Greek: αυλητής (el) m (avlitís) Ancient Greek: αὐλητής m (aulētḗs), αὐλητρίς f (aulētrís) Hebrew: חֲלִילָן (he) m (khalilán) Hungarian: dudás (hu), sípos (hu) Irish: píobaire m Italian: pifferaio (it) m Ottoman Turkish: دودوكجی (düdükçü) Portuguese: flautista (pt) m or f Romanian: fluierar (ro) m Russian: ду́дочник (ru) m (dúdočnik), волы́нщик (ru) m (volýnščik) (bagpipes), флейти́ст (ru) m (flejtíst) (flautist) Scottish Gaelic: pìobair m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: фру̀ла̄ш m Roman: frùlāš (sh) m Ukrainian: ґа́йдар m (gájdar), дуда́р m (dudár)

bagpiper — see bagpiper

baby pigeon — see squab

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 (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

piper

1. to pipe (a bagpipe)

Conjugation

Conjugation of piper (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	piper
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	pipant /pi.pɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		pipé /pi.pe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	pipe /pip/	pipes /pip/	pipe /pip/	pipons /pi.pɔ̃/	pipez /pi.pe/	pipent /pip/
	imperfect	pipais /pi.pɛ/	pipais /pi.pɛ/	pipait /pi.pɛ/	pipions /pi.pjɔ̃/	pipiez /pi.pje/	pipaient /pi.pɛ/
	past historic2	pipai /pi.pe/	pipas /pi.pa/	pipa /pi.pa/	pipâmes /pi.pam/	pipâtes /pi.pat/	pipèrent /pi.pɛʁ/
	future	piperai /pi.pʁe/	piperas /pi.pʁa/	pipera /pi.pʁa/	piperons /pi.pʁɔ̃/	piperez /pi.pʁe/	piperont /pi.pʁɔ̃/
	conditional	piperais /pi.pʁɛ/	piperais /pi.pʁɛ/	piperait /pi.pʁɛ/	piperions /pi.pə.ʁjɔ̃/	piperiez /pi.pə.ʁje/	piperaient /pi.pʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	pipe /pip/	pipes /pip/	pipe /pip/	pipions /pi.pjɔ̃/	pipiez /pi.pje/	pipent /pip/
	imperfect2	pipasse /pi.pas/	pipasses /pi.pas/	pipât /pi.pa/	pipassions /pi.pa.sjɔ̃/	pipassiez /pi.pa.sje/	pipassent /pi.pas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	pipe /pip/	—	pipons /pi.pɔ̃/	pipez /pi.pe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• ne pas piper mot
• sans piper mot

References

• “piper”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 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 Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpɪ.pɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpiː.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).

	singular	plural
nominative	piper	pipera
genitive	piperis	piperum
dative	piperī	piperibus
accusative	piper	pipera
ablative	pipere	piperibus
vocative	piper	pipera

Derived terms

• piperātārius
• piperātōrium
• piperātum
• piperātus
• piperita
• piperō (“bell pepper”)

Related terms

• piperītis

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Dalmatian: pepro
  • Italian: pepe
  • Sicilian: pipi

    Calabrian: pipi, pipe

• Padanian:
  • Emilian: péivar, pévar, peuvre
  • Friulian: pevar
  • Ladin: peiver
  • Ligurian: pèivie, pèivre, pèive, pêve
  • Lombard: pever, pévar, péer, pìer, per, péivar

    Alpine: péuro

    Ossolano: péuro, pòvar

  • Piedmontese: péiver, paivre, péure, paire, pèvre, pèive, pèivre, pòiver
  • Romagnol: pévre, pévar, péivar, puéivar
  • Romansch: paiver, peiver, pever
  • Venetan: pévaro, pévar, pévare
  • → Italian: pevere
  • → Mòcheno: pever
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: pêvro, pèivro
  • Old French: poivre, peivre, peivere
    • French: poivre
    • Norman: paîvre, pêvre (Jersey) (Guernsey), pevr (Sark)
    • Walloon: poevrî
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Aragonese: pebre
  • Catalan: pebre
    • → Galician: prebe (“sauce, pepper”)
    • → Spanish: pebre
  • Occitan: pebre

    Gascon: péber, púber

    Vivaro-Alpine: peure

    Valadas: pióre, piòure

• Southern Romance
  • African Romance: piper
  • Sardinian: pibere, pibiri, pipere
• → Basque: piperra
• → Proto-West Germanic: *pipar, *piper, pipr
  • Old English: pipor, piper
    • Middle English: peper
      • English: pepper (see there for further descendants)
      • Middle Scots: peper, pepar, pepir
        • Scots: pepper
      • Yola: pipper
  • Old Frisian: piper
    • North Frisian: pöber
    • Saterland Frisian: Pieper
    • West Frisian: piper
  • Old Saxon: *pipar
    • Middle Low German: pēper, pepper, pipper, pöpper
      • German Low German: Peper
    • → Old Norse: piparr, pipari
      • Icelandic: pipar
      • Faroese: pipar
      • Norwegian:

        Norwegian Nynorsk: pepar

        Norwegian Bokmål: pepper

      • Old Swedish: pipar, pepar
        • Swedish: peppar
        • → Finnish: pippuri
          • → Northern Sami: bihppor
          • → Kildin Sami: пеһпарь (pjehpar’)
      • Old Danish: pipær
        • Danish: peber
      • Elfdalian: pipär
      • → Estonian: pipar
      • → Latvian: pipars
  • Old Dutch: *pipar
    • Middle Dutch: peper
      • Dutch: peper
        • Afrikaans: peper
        • Negerhollands: pepper
        • → Aukan: pepee
        • → Munsee: piipel
        • → Papiamentu: peper
        • → Saramaccan: pepè
        • → Unami: pèpël
      • Limburgish: paeper
  • Old High German: pfeffar, pfeffur
    • Middle High German: pfeffer
      • Cimbrian: fèffar
      • German: Pfeffer
      • Hunsrik: Peffer
      • Luxembourgish: Peffer
      • Pennsylvania German: Peffer
      • Yiddish: פֿעפֿער (fefer)
• → Middle Irish: pipur
  • Irish: piobar
  • Manx: pibbyr
  • Scottish Gaelic: peabar, piobar
• → Proto-Slavic: *pьpьrь
  • East Slavic:
    • Old East Slavic: пьпьрь (pĭpĭrĭ)
      • ⇒ Old East Slavic: пьпьрьць (pĭpĭrĭcĭ)
        • Old Ruthenian: пе́рець (pérecʹ), пе́рецъ (pérecʹ)
          • Belarusian: пе́рац (pjérac)
          • Ukrainian: пе́рець (pérecʹ)
        • Russian: пе́рец (pérec), пе́рецъ (pérec) — pre-1918 spelling
          • → Ingrian: pertsu
          • → Kildin Sami: пе̄рэц (pierec)
          • → Yakut: биэрэс (bieres)
  • South Slavic:
    • Church Slavonic: пьпьрь (pĭpĭrĭ) (Serbian)
    • Serbo-Croatian:

      Cyrillic script: па̀пар

      Latin script: pàpar

    • Slovene: pópər, pŕpər, péper (tonal orthography)
  • West Slavic:
    • Czech: pepř
    • Polabian: paṕår
    • Old Polish: pieprz, pierz
      • Polish: pieprz (noun)
    • Old Slovak: peper, pepr, piepor, piepr
      • Pannonian Rusyn: попер (poper)
      • Slovak: piepor
    • Sorbian:
      • Upper Sorbian: popjeŕ
      • Lower Sorbian: peṕeŕ, per
• → Translingual: Piper
• → Welsh: pupur

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 +‎ -ere (suffix forming agent nouns); 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 4 January 2022.

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

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	piper	piperul		piperi	piperii
genitive-dative	piper	piperului		piperi	piperilor
vocative	piperule			piperilor

See also

• sare

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːpɛr/

Verb

piper

1. present indicative of pipa

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪpɪd/

Verb

piper

1. (literary) inflection of pipo (“to peep”):
   1. impersonal subjunctive
   2. impersonal imperative

Mutation

Mutated forms of piper

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
piper	biper	mhiper	phiper

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

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