different between jape vs banter

English

Etymology

From Middle English japen (“to deceive, play tricks on; act foolishly, joke; have sex with”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old French japer (“to bark, howl, scream; chatter, gossip”) (possibly conflated with Old French gaber (“to mock, deride”), see gab), related to Old Occitan japar, jaupar (“to bark, yelp, yap”), probably of Proto-Germanic origin, related to Old Saxon galp?n (“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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??e?p/
• Rhymes: -e?p

Noun

jape (plural japes)

1. A joke or quip.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:joke

   • c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Pardoner's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales:

     "Thou bel ami, thou Pardoner," he said,

     "Tell us some mirth of japes right anon."

   • 1920, Jeffery Farnol, The Geste of Duke Jocelyn, Fytte 9:

     [H]e clapped hand to thigh, and laughed and laughed until the air rang again.

     "Oho, a jape—a jape indeed!" he roared.

2. A prank or trick.

Derived terms

• bejape
• japery

Translations

Verb

jape (third-person singular simple present japes, present participle japing, simple past and past participle japed)

1. (intransitive) To jest; play tricks.

   Synonyms: joke; see also Thesaurus:jest
2. (transitive) To mock; deride.

   Synonyms: gibe, trick, befool, make fun of, razz; see also Thesaurus:mock

3. (obsolete) To have sexual intercourse with.

   Synonyms: coitize, go to bed with, sleep with; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

Anagrams

• Peja

English

Etymology

1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant + -er (frequentative). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?bænt?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?bænt?/
• Rhymes: -ænt?(?)

Noun

banter (uncountable)

1. Sharp, good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.

   Synonyms: pleasantry, raillery

Translations

Verb

banter (third-person singular simple present banters, present participle bantering, simple past and past participle bantered)

1. (intransitive) To engage in banter or playful conversation.
2. (intransitive) To play or do something amusing.
3. (transitive) To tease (someone) mildly.

   Synonyms: kid, wind up
4. (transitive) To joke about; to ridicule (a trait, habit, etc.).
   • June 1804, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

     If they banter your regularity, order, and love of study, banter in return their neglect of them.

5. (transitive) To delude or trick; to play a prank upon.
6. (transitive, US, Southern and Western, colloquial) To challenge to a match.

Translations

Derived terms

• bant

References

Further reading

• Michael Quinion (1996–2021) , “Banter”, in World Wide Words

Anagrams

• Barnet, Bernat, barnet