jape
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jape
- /d͡ʒeɪp/
Rhymes with -eɪp
Where it comes from
From Middle English japen (“to deceive, play tricks on; act foolishly, joke; have sex with”), of uncertain origin, but perhaps combining Old French japer (“to bark, howl, scream; chatter, gossip”) with gaber (“to mock, deride”).
See also gab, Old Occitan japar, jaupar (“to bark, yelp, yap”), related to Old Saxon galpōn (“to cry loudly, make a noise, brag”) (Low German galpen (“to bark, howl, scream”)), Middle High German gelpfen (“to scream, bark, boast, proclaim”), Old Norse gjálpa (“to yelp”) (dialectal Swedish galpa (“to cry, screech”)). More at yelp, yawp, yap.
noun japes
-
A joke or quip.
[H]e clapped hand to thigh, and laughed and laughed until the air rang again.
"Oho, a jape—a jape indeed!" he roared.
Similar: joke
- A prank or trick. In London or New York in the late 1970s dada meant what it meant in Paris and New York at the end of the First World War: a not-quite-naked prank, a jape clothed in the barest g-string of aesthetic authority, a Bronx cheer in three-part harmony, Tzara's affirmation of the right “to piss and shit in
verb japes · japing · japed
- To jest; play tricks. Now the Lond of Egypt longeth to the Soudan, yet the Soudan longeth not to the Lond of Egypt. And when I say this, I do jape with words, and may hap ye understond me not.
-
To mock; deride.
Similar: gibe, trick, befool, make fun of, razz, chaff, disparage, forgab, frump, gleek, jape, jeer
-
To have sexual intercourse with.
Nay, brother, lay hand on him soon; / For he japed my wife, and made me cuckold.
Similar: coitize, go to bed with, sleep with, Formal terms, bed, coit, dight, enjoy, feague, go in unto, have, know
Talk about this word "jape." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/jape. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. jape. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/jape "jape." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/jape.Cite this
@misc{jape_2026,
title = {jape},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/jape},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
