Everyday LifeGreek → English
Caper
/ˈkeɪpər/noun
The pickled flower bud of a Mediterranean shrub, used as a sharp salty seasoning.
The Greek roots
κάππαρις
kápparis
the caper bush
Literally: “caper bush”
Follow a root:κάππαρις1 word
The story of the word
Greek κάππαρις became Latin capparis and Middle English caperis, and then English ears heard that final s as a plural and invented a new singular, caper. The Greeks had probably borrowed the word from further east themselves. The other caper, the leap or the criminal escapade, is a different word entirely, from Latin capreolus, a young goat, by way of capriole: two spellings that met by accident.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 15th century
Same family
capparis
In a sentence
Rinse the capers or the whole sauce turns salty.
Capers, anchovy and lemon, and the fish needs nothing else.