jape
/d͡ʒeɪp/noun, verb
jape is spelled J-A-P-E: 4 letters. It appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 113,022nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, jape means “A joke or quip” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jape is japes.
How many letters and syllables are in jape?
| Letters | 4: J-A-P-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 14 million words; the 113,022nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is jape?
Jape appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 113,022nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce jape?
- /d͡ʒeɪp/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-jape.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of jape
- japes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- japing participle, present
- japed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does jape mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A joke or quip.
[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.
verb
- 1
To jest; play tricks.
- 2
To mock; deride.
- 3
obsoleteTo have sexual intercourse with.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does jape come from?
From Middle English japen (“to deceive, play tricks on; act foolishly, joke; have sex with”), of uncertain origin, but perhaps combining Old French japer (“to bark, howl, scream; chatter, gossip”) with gaber (“to mock, deride”). See also gab, Old Occitan japar, jaupar (“to bark, yelp, yap”), related to Old Saxon galpōn (“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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).