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skipper

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skipper¹

  • /ˈskɪp.ə/ Australia, General South African, UK
  • [ˈskɪp.ə] Australia, General South African, UK
  • /ˈskɘp.ɘ/ New Zealand
  • [ˈskɘp.ɘ] New Zealand
  • /ˈskɪp.ɚ/ Canadian, US, Standard
  • [ˈskɪp.ɚ] ~ [ˈskɪp.ɹ̩] Canadian, US, Standard

Rhymes with -ɪpə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English skippere, skyppere, scippere, borrowed from Middle Dutch scipper, schipper, from Old Dutch *skipāri, from Proto-Germanic *skipārijaz. Piecewise doublet of shipper, from ship + -er.

noun skippers · skip

  1. The master of a ship. The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.

    Similar: master, captain

  2. A coach, director, or other leader.
  3. The captain of a sports team such as football, cricket, rugby or curling. But even the return of skipper Steven Gerrard from a six-week injury layoff could not inspire Liverpool
  4. UK, informal Synonym of detective sergeant, especially as a term of direct address.

    Similar: detective sergeant

verb skippers · skippering · skippered · skip

  1. transitive To captain a ship or a sports team. Tourist subs, which could once be skippered by anyone with a U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license

skipper²

  • /ˈskɪp.ə/ Australia, General South African, UK
  • [ˈskɪp.ə] Australia, General South African, UK
  • /ˈskɘp.ɘ/ New Zealand
  • [ˈskɘp.ɘ] New Zealand
  • /ˈskɪp.ɚ/ Canadian, US, Standard
  • [ˈskɪp.ɚ] ~ [ˈskɪp.ɹ̩] Canadian, US, Standard

Rhymes with -ɪpə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English skippere, skyppare, equivalent to skip + -er.

noun skippers · skip

  1. agent Agent noun of skip: one who skips.
  2. A person who skips, or fails to attend class.
  3. One who jumps rope.
  4. Any of various butterflies of the families Hesperiidae and its subfamily Megathyminae, having a hairy mothlike body, hooked tips on the antennae, and a darting flight pattern. Blue skippers in sunny hours ope and shut Where wormwood and grunsel flowers by the cart ruts […]
  5. Any of several marine fishes that often leap above water, especially Cololabis saira (Pacific saury) and Sprattus sprattus (European sprat).
  6. obsolete A young, thoughtless person. Skipper, stand back; 'tis age that nourisheth
  7. The cheese maggot, the larva of a cheese fly (family Piophilidae), which leaps to escape predators.

skipper³

  • /ˈskɪp.ə/ Australia, General South African, UK
  • [ˈskɪp.ə] Australia, General South African, UK
  • /ˈskɘp.ɘ/ New Zealand
  • [ˈskɘp.ɘ] New Zealand
  • /ˈskɪp.ɚ/ Canadian, US, Standard
  • [ˈskɪp.ɚ] ~ [ˈskɪp.ɹ̩] Canadian, US, Standard

Rhymes with -ɪpə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Probably from Welsh ysgubor (“a barn”).

noun skippers · skip

  1. A barn or shed in which to shelter for the night.

verb skippers · skippering · skippered · skip

  1. intransitive To take shelter in a barn or shed.

skipper⁴

  • /ˈskɪp.ə/ Australia, General South African, UK
  • [ˈskɪp.ə] Australia, General South African, UK
  • /ˈskɘp.ɘ/ New Zealand
  • [ˈskɘp.ɘ] New Zealand
  • /ˈskɪp.ɚ/ Canadian, US, Standard
  • [ˈskɪp.ɚ] ~ [ˈskɪp.ɹ̩] Canadian, US, Standard

Rhymes with -ɪpə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Unknown, perhaps related to jumper.

noun skippers · skip

  1. South Africa A short-sleeved (or long-sleeved) tee-shirt, or sweatshirt. Plain nylon doeks...Men's knitted skippers, long sleeves, three buttons in front.

    Similar: jumper, tee-shirt

Skipper⁵

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A male given name.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: sea captain, captain, master, sailor, coxswain, navigator, pilot, capitaine, motorman, driver, colonel, commandant, commander, comandante, capt, head

Translations

Every language

noun master of a ship

Españolpatrón
Françaiscapitaine, skipper
DeutschSchiffer, Kapitän, Schiffskapitän
Italianoskipper
Ελληνικάπλοίαρχος ploíarchos, σκίπερ skíper
Русскийшки́пер škíper, капита́н kapitán
עבריתסְקִיפֶּר skipper, רַב סַפָּן rav sapan

noun coach, director, leader

Españolentrenador

noun captain of sports team

Españolcapitan
DeutschKapitän, Teamkapitän, Teamchef, Mannschaftskapitän

noun one who fails to attend class

Русскийпрогу́льщик progúlʹščik

noun butterfly of the family Hesperiidae

Españolhespérido, hesperíido
中文弄蝶 nòngdié
Portuguêshesperiídeo
Françaishespéridé
DeutschDickkopffalter
Italianoesperido
Русскийтолстоголо́вка tolstogolóvka

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{skipper_2026,
  title = {skipper},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/skipper},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}