didapper

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

didapper

Where it comes from

From Middle English dydoppar, from earlier douedoppe, deuedep, dyuedap with agentive suffix -er, from Old English dūfedoppa (“diving bird, pelican”), from dūfan (“to dive”) + *doppa (“diver”) (whence modern English dop (“diving bird”)). By surface analysis, dive + dop + -er.

noun didappers

A small diving water bird frequenting rivers and fresh waters, specifically a little grebe or dabchick. The misery of man may fitly be compar'd to a Didapper, who when she is under water, past our sight, and indeed can seem no more to us, rises again; […]
derogatory, obsolete A scoundrel, a worthless person If a Martin can play at cheſtes, as well as his nephewe the ape, he ſhall knowe what it is for a ſcaddle pawne, to croſſe a Biſhop in his owne walke. Such dydoppers must be taken vp, els theile not ſtick to check the king.

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"didapper." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/didapper. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

didapper. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/didapper

Chicago

"didapper." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/didapper.

BibTeX

@misc{didapper_2026,
  title = {didapper},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/didapper},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}