# leaper

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. One who leaps.
2. A kind of hooked instrument for untwisting old cordage.
3. A piece, like the knight, which moves a fixed distance, and ignores pieces in the way.
4. Synonym of jumper (“person who attempts suicide by jumping from a height”).
5. A person whose birthday falls on 29 February, and thus only occurs in leap years.

## Etymology
From Middle English lepere, lepare, from Old English hlēapere (“runner, leaper, dancer, courier, vagrant”), equivalent to leap + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Lööper (“runner”), West Frisian ljepper (“leaper”), West Frisian loper (“runner”), Dutch loper (“runner”), German Läufer (“runner”), Swedish löpare (“runner”), Icelandic hlaupari (“runner”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/leaper