caper

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a playful leap or madcap escapade; to skip about merrily

   The lambs capered across the spring meadow.

Simplified etymology

Caper in the sense of a lively leap was adapted in the late 16th century from capriole, a riding movement in which a horse leaps and kicks out its hind legs. Capriole comes from Italian capriola, “leap,” based on Latin caper, “goat”; the later sense “an illicit or ridiculous activity” arose in underworld usage in the mid-19th century. The edible caper has an unrelated origin, entering in late Middle English from Greek kapparis.

Probably a shortening of capriole ('a leap'), from Italian capriola ('a leap, somersault'), literally 'a goat-leap', from Latin caper ('goat').

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary