nape

See also: NAPE

English

A geisha with unpainted nape.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /neɪp/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪp

Etymology 1

From Middle English nape, naape, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old French hanap (goblet), from Frankish *hnapp, from Proto-Germanic *hnappaz ( > Old English hnæpp, hnæp (cup, bowl, goblet)), as there is a hollow at the base of the skull.[1] More at nap.

Noun

nape (plural napes)

  1. (anatomy) The back part of the neck.
    • 2022, Stephen King, chapter 8, in Fairy Tale, page 132:
      He was still stroking Radar, long glides of his hand from nape to tail.
  2. (zoology) The part of a fish or bird immediately behind the head.
Synonyms
Translations

See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English nape, from Old French nape, nappe (a cloth), from Medieval Latin nappa, napa (cloth, table-cloth, sheet), alteration of Latin mappa (a cloth, napkin, towel). More at map, apron.

Noun

nape (plural napes)

  1. (obsolete) A tablecloth.
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Short for napalm.

Noun

nape (uncountable)

  1. (military, slang) Napalm.
    • 1986, Oliver Stone, Platoon (film script)
      RHAH: They got through Alpha Company! Anything behind you don't identify itself, blow it away. Two - air strike's coming in. They gonna lay snake and nape right on the perimeter so stay tight in your holes and don't leave 'em.

Verb

nape (third-person singular simple present napes, present participle naping, simple past and past participle naped)

  1. (transitive, military, slang) To bombard with napalm.

References

  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “nape”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

Latin

Noun

nāpe

  1. vocative singular of nāpus

Middle English

Etymology 1

Unknown.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnaːp(ə)/

Noun

nape (plural napys)

  1. The nape; the neck's rear.
  2. The nape of a fish; the part below a fish's head.
Derived terms
Descendants
  • English: nape
References

Etymology 2

From Old French nape, nappe, from Medieval Latin nappa, modification of mappa.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnaːp(ə)/

Noun

nape

  1. (rare except in compound words) tablecloth
Descendants
  • English: nape (obsolete)
References

Verb

nape

  1. Alternative form of nappen

Verb

nape

  1. Alternative form of napyn

Old French

Etymology

From Latin mappa.

Noun

nape oblique singular, f (oblique plural napes, nominative singular nape, nominative plural napes)

  1. table cloth

Descendants

See also

Yola

Noun

nape

  1. Alternative form of neape
    • GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:
      Nipple is a diminutive of nape or neap.

References

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 59
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