harpe
French, noun
harpe is spelled H-A-R-P-E (5 letters) and appears 2.2 times per million words in written French, the 19,481st most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Harpe is a French feminine noun meaning “A triangular musical instrument played by plucking strings with the fingers; a harp” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of harper. With an accent, harpé is a different word: “past participle of harper”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Cordophone à cordes pincées, que l'on tient debout, reposant par terre, garni de cordes verticales de…”.
What does harpe mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineA triangular musical instrument played by plucking strings with the fingers; a harp.
- 2
feminineAny member of the sea snail mollusc family Harpidae; a harp snail.
- 3
feminineEllipsis of harpe de David (“David's harp; metaphorical, poetic inspiration; a calming force”).
noun
- 1
feminineA dog's claw
- 2
feminineslangfinger
- 3
feminineEllipsis of harpe de fer (“bent piece of iron used to mate corner posts of timber framing to a wall”).
- 4
feminineA stone left protruding from a wall at regular intervals so that it can be interlocked with a corresponding stone on another wall to form quoining.
- 5
feminineA type of portcullis.
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of harper
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Cordophone à cordes pincées, que l'on tient debout, reposant par terre, garni de cordes verticales de longueur décroissante, que l’on pince avec les doigts. 2. Chez les anciens Juifs, instrument de musique triangulaire et portatif avec des cordes graduellement décroissantes. 3. La poésie religieuse, sans doute par allusion à la harpe de David et à ses psaumes. 4. Se dit quelquefois de la poésie en général, comme tout autre instrument de musique.
adjective: 1. Qualifie un chien dont la silhouette rappelle la forme d'une harpe.
noun: 1. Poisson du genre thoracique.
noun: 1. Coutelas ou sabre recourbé.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of harpe
- harpes plural
- harpée feminine
- harpés masculine plural
- harpées feminine plural
- ^((h aspiré))\aʁp\ singular plural
- ^((h aspiré))\aʁ.pe\ singular masculine
- harpê
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to harpe
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is harpe in French?
harpe appears 2.2 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).