nep
Translingual
Symbol
nep
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɛp/
- Rhymes: -ɛp
Etymology 1
From Middle English neppe, nepe, nepte, nept, from Old English nepte, nefte, from Latin nepeta. Compare Dutch neppe, nippe (“catnip”). Doublet of nepeta.
Alternative forms
- nip (dialectal)
Noun
nep (usually uncountable, plural neps)
- Catmint, catnip; Nepeta cataria.
- 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio, published 2007, page 201:
- Nep is generally used for women to procure their courses, being taken inwardly or outwardly, either alone or with other convenient herbs in a decoction to bathe them, of sit over the hot fumes thereof.
Etymology 2
Perhaps a variant of nap for knap, from Middle English knep, kneppe, knappe, a conflation of Old English cnep, cnæp, cnæpp (“top, knop, summit”) and Old Norse knappr (“knob”), both from Proto-Germanic *knappaz, *knappô (“knob”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnebʰ- (“to press, tighten”), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- (“to pinch, squeeze, bend, press together, ball”). Compare also Old Norse hnappr (“button”). Related to knob.
Noun
nep (plural neps)
- A knot in a fibre.
- 1987, Paula Simmons, Spinning and weaving with wool, published 1977, →ISBN, page 130:
- The neps appear as small dense areas or spots when compared to the surrounding fibers.
Derived terms
Verb
nep (third-person singular simple present neps, present participle nepping, simple past and past participle nepped)
- (UK, dialect, intransitive) Of cotton: to form knots.
Etymology 3
Clipping of nepotist.
Noun
nep (plural neps)
- (US, slang, derogatory) One who engages in nepotism, usually to the one who benefits from it.
Anagrams
Ainu
Etymology
From ne (“interrogatory root”) + p (“thing”). See nekon, nen.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ne̞p]
Pronoun
nep (Kana spelling ネㇷ゚)
- (interrogative) what
Usage notes
Less common in spoken language than hemanta.
Synonyms
See also
Dutch
Etymology
From German Nepp. Originally Bargoens.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɛp/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: nep
- Rhymes: -ɛp
Noun
nep m (uncountable)
Adjective
nep (comparative nepper, superlative nepst)
- fake, not real
- artificial, not natural
Declension
Some Dutch speakers may consider attributive use of this adjective informal. Thus, the inflected form neppe is not very commonly used in more formal language. In such language, the word is used more often in compounds formed by prefixing with nep-. The predicative and partitive forms are used normally.
Declension of nep | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | nep | |||
inflected | neppe | |||
comparative | nepper | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | nep | nepper | het nepst het nepste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | neppe | neppere | nepste |
n. sing. | nep | nepper | nepste | |
plural | neppe | neppere | nepste | |
definite | neppe | neppere | nepste | |
partitive | neps | neppers | — |
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Anagrams
Middle English
Noun
nep
- alternative form of nap (“drinking bowl”)
Old English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /neːp/
Adjective
nēp
Derived terms
References
- Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “nép”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.