different between dapper vs tapper

English

Etymology

From Middle English daper (“pretty, neat”), from Middle Dutch dapper (“stalwart, nimble”), Old Dutch *dapar, from Proto-Germanic *dapraz (“stout; solid; heavy; bold”) (compare German tapfer "bold", Norwegian daper "saddened, dreary"), from Proto-Indo-European *d?eb- ‘thick, heavy’ (compare Tocharian A tpär ‘high’, Latvian dàbls ‘strong’, Serbo-Croatian ????? (dèbeo) ‘fat’).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?dæp?(?)/
• Rhymes: -æp?(r)

Adjective

dapper (comparative dapperer, superlative dapperest)

1. Neat, trim.
   • 1892, Henry Seton Merriman, The Slave Of The Lamp:

     This entrance is through a little courtyard, in which is the stable and coach-house combined, where Madame Perinere, a lady who paints the magic word "Modes" beneath her name on the door-post of number seventeen, keeps the dapper little cart and pony which carry her bonnets to the farthest corner of Paris.

2. Stylishly dressed, neatly dressed, spiffy.
   • 1917, P. G. Wodehouse, The Man With Two Left Feet:

     Going down the street, you would meet a typical commercial traveller, dapper and alert.

3. Quick; little and active.

Derived terms

• Dapper Dan

Translations

Anagrams

• Eppard, adprep, parped, rapped

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch dapper, from Middle Dutch dapper, from Old Dutch *dappar, from Proto-Germanic *dapraz.

Adjective

dapper (attributive dappere, comparative dapperder, superlative dapperste)

1. brave, courageous

Derived terms

• dapperheid

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch dapper, from Old Dutch *dappar, from Proto-Germanic *dapraz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?.p?r/
• Hyphenation: dap?per
• Rhymes: -?p?r

Adjective

dapper (comparative dapperder, superlative dapperst)

1. brave, courageous

Inflection

Derived terms

• dapperheid
• verdapperen

Descendants

• Afrikaans: dapper

English

Etymology

tap +? -er.

Pronunciation

Noun

tapper (plural tappers)

1. One who makes a tapping noise.
   • 1836-37, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

     A low tap was heard at the room door. Mr. Bob Sawyer looked expressively at his friend, and bade the tapper come in […]

2. A tap-dancer.
3. A phone tapper or wiretapper.
4. (baseball slang) A weakly hit ground ball.
5. (telegraphy) In early wireless telegraphs, a device used to shake loose the filings of a coherer.
6. (Britain, dialect) The lesser spotted woodpecker.
7. (US) A tapster.

Derived terms

• toe tapper, toe-tapper
• wheeltapper, wheel-tapper

Anagrams

• Trappe

Danish

Noun

tapper

1. indefinite plural of tap

Verb

tapper

1. present of tappe

Middle English

Noun

tapper

1. Alternative form of taper

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish dapper, from Middle Low German dapper, tapper. Further origin disputed. Possibly cognate with Old Norse dapr (“heavy”), German tapfer (“dauntless”) and English dapper.

Adjective

tapper (comparative tapprare, superlative tapprast)

1. brave

   Synonyms: modig, djärv, orädd

Declension

Derived terms

• tapperhet

References

• tapper in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• tapper in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• tapper in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• tapper in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)