nape
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /neɪp/
Audio (AU) (file) Audio (US) (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)
- (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.
- (zoology) The part of a fish or bird immediately behind the head.
Synonyms
- nucha, nuchal (medicine)
- scruff, scruff of the neck
- withers (of a horse)
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.
Etymology 3
Short for napalm.
Noun
nape (uncountable)
Verb
nape (third-person singular simple present napes, present participle naping, simple past and past participle naped)
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “nape”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Latin
Middle English
Etymology 1
Unknown.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈnaːp(ə)/
Noun
nape (plural napys)
- The nape; the neck's rear.
- The nape of a fish; the part below a fish's head.
Derived terms
Descendants
- English: nape
References
- “nap, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-30.
Etymology 2
From Old French nape, nappe, from Medieval Latin nappa, modification of mappa.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈnaːp(ə)/
Descendants
- English: nape (obsolete)
References
- “nāpe, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-30.
Old French
Noun
nape oblique singular, f (oblique plural napes, nominative singular nape, nominative plural napes)
- table cloth
- c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
- Tables mises, et napes sus
- Tables were laid, with table cloths on them
See also
Yola
Noun
nape
- Alternative form of neape
- GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:
- Nipple is a diminutive of nape or neap.
- GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:
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