nape

See also: napë and NAPE

English

A geisha with unpainted nape.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /neɪp/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪp

Etymology 1

From Middle English nape, naape, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old French hanap (“goblet”), from Frankish *hnapp, from Proto-Germanic *hnappaz ( > Old English hnæpp, hnæp (“cup, bowl, goblet”)), as there is a hollow at the base of the skull. More at nap.

Noun

nape (plural napes)

1. (anatomy) The back part of the neck.
   • 2022, Stephen King, chapter 8, in Fairy Tale, page 132:

     He was still stroking Radar, long glides of his hand from nape to tail.

2. (zoology) The part of a fish or bird immediately behind the head.

Synonyms

• nucha, nuchal (medicine)
• scruff, scruff of the neck
• withers (of a horse)

Derived terms

• yellownape

Translations

back part of the neck

• Afrikaans: agterkop, nek (af)
• Albanian: zverk (sq) m, arç m
• Arabic: قَفًا (ar) f (qafan)

  Egyptian Arabic: قفا m (ʔafā)

  Hijazi Arabic: قَفا m (gafa)

• Armenian: ծոծրակ (hy) (cocrak)
• Assamese: ঘাৰ (ghar)
• Azerbaijani: ənsə (az)
• Bajau:

  West Coast Bajau: buli' kelong

• Bashkir: елкә (yilkä)
• Belarusian: паты́ліца f (patýlica)
• Bidayuh:

  Bau Bidayuh: punguo

• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: luong (bcl)

• Bulgarian: тил (bg) m (til)
• Catalan: bescoll (ca) m (especially for animals), nuca (ca) f, clatell (ca) m (especially for humans)
• Cebuano: tangkugo
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 項 / 项 (zh) (xiàng), 脖頸兒 / 脖颈儿 (zh) (bógěngr), 脖頸 / 脖颈 (zh) (bójǐng), 頸背 / 颈背 (jǐngbèi), 後頸 / 后颈 (zh) (hòujǐng)

• Chuvash: ӗнсе (ĕns̬e)
• Coptic: ϧⲁϧ m (xax)
• Czech: zátylek (cs) m, šíje (cs) m, týl (cs) m
• Danish: nakke (da) c
• Dhivehi: ކަނދުރާ (kaⁿdurā), ކަނދަރަ (kaⁿdara)
• Dusun:

  Central Dusun: tipus

• Dutch: nek (nl)
• Esperanto: nuko (eo)
• Faroese: nakki m
• Finnish: niska (fi)
• French: nuque (fr) f
• Gagauz: ensä
• Galician: caluga (gl) f, brouca (gl) f, cachazo (gl) m, carrolo m, covaracha f, noca (gl) f
• Georgian: ქედი (kedi), კეფა (ḳepa)
• German: Nacken (de) m, Genick (de) n
• Greek: σβέρκος (el) m (svérkos), αυχένας (el) m (afchénas)
• Guarani:

  Paraguayan Guarani: ^{(please verify)} atúa

• Hebrew: עֹרֶף (he) m ('óref)
• Hiligaynon: tangkugo
• Hindi: गुद्दी (hi) (guddī), मन्या (hi) (manyā), क़फ़ा (qafā)
• Hungarian: tarkó (hu), nyakszirt (hu), tocok
• Icelandic: hnakki (is) m
• Indonesian: kuduk (id), tengkuk (id)
• Ingrian: niska
• Iranun: tengu'
• Irish: baic f
• Italian: nuca (it) f, coppa (it) f
• Japanese: 項 (ja) (unaji), 襟首 (ja) (erikubi)
• Kabuverdianu: totis
• Kalmyk: гиҗг (gijg)
• Kapampangan: tundun
• Kazakh: желке (jelke)
• Kimaragang: tipus
• Kinaray-a: tangkëgë
• Korean: 목덜미 (ko) (mokdeolmi)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: patik (ku) f

• Ladino: piskueso
• Latin: nucha
• Livonian: kir
• Lotud: tipus, ipus
• Low German: Nack m
• Macedonian: тил m (til)
• Malay: tengkuk (ms), nuka
• Mansi:

  Northern Mansi: сё̄при (sjōpri)

• Māori: porongāua, ue, mōua, porongāue, ua (mi)
• Maranao: tengo'
• Mongolian: хүзүү (mn) (xüzüü)
• Murut:

  Tagal Murut: ipus

• Norwegian: nakke (no) m

  Bokmål: hals (no) m, nakke (no) m

• Occitan: copet (oc) m, cogòt m, nuca f
• Old Prussian: passoles
• Piedmontese: nuca f
• Plautdietsch: Schlafitje f
• Polish: kark (pl) m
• Portuguese: nuca (pt) f, cangote (pt) m
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਧੌਣ f (dhauṇ), ਗਿੱਚੀ f (giccī)

  Shahmukhi: دَھوݨ f (dhauṇ), گِچّی f (giccī)

• Quechua: much'u
• Romanian: ceafă (ro) f, grumaz (ro) n, cerbice (ro)
• Rungus: ipus
• Russian: заты́лок (ru) m (zatýlok), за́дняя часть ше́и f (zádnjaja častʹ šéi), (animals or colloquial) загри́вок (ru) (zagrívok)
• Sabah Bisaya: ipus
• Sami:

  Kildin Sami: нышшькмоа̄нт (nyšš’kmåånt)

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: затиљак m

  Latin: zatiljak (sh) m

• Sicilian: cozzu (scn) m
• Slovak: zátylok m, šija f
• Slovene: zatilje n
• Spanish: nuca (es) f, cogote (es) m, colodrillo (es) m (rear part of the head), tolano m (hairs at the nape), cocote (es) m
• Sranan Tongo: bakaneki
• Swahili: kisogo (sw)
• Swedish: nacke (sv) c
• Tagalog: batok
• Tamil: பிடரி (ta) (piṭari), பின்னந்தலை (ta) (piṉṉantalai), பொடனி (poṭaṉi) (dialectal)
• Tarifit: ijem m, ijiman m pl
• Tausug: pugay
• Thai: ต้นคอ (dtôn-kɔɔ)
• Tocharian B: krāñi
• Turkish: ense (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: اكسه (eñse), قفا (kafâ)

• Turkmen: ýeňse
• Ukrainian: поти́лиця f (potýlycja), заши́йок m (zašýjok)
• Vietnamese: gáy (vi), ót (vi)
• Volapük: nük (vo)
• Welsh: gwar m or f, gwegil m
• Yakut: кэтэх (keteq)
• Yiddish: נאַקן m (nakn)
• Zazaki: mıl (diq)

See also

• hindneck

Etymology 2

From Middle English nape, from Old French nape, nappe (“a cloth”), from Medieval Latin nappa, napa (“cloth, table-cloth, sheet”), alteration of Latin mappa (“a cloth, napkin, towel”). More at map, apron. Doublet of map, mop, and nappe.

Noun

nape (plural napes)

2. (obsolete) A tablecloth.

Derived terms

• napkin
• nappie

Etymology 3

Short for napalm.

Noun

nape (uncountable)

1. (military, slang) Napalm.
   • 1986, Oliver Stone, Platoon (film script)

     RHAH: They got through Alpha Company! Anything behind you don't identify itself, blow it away. Two - air strike's coming in. They gonna lay snake and nape right on the perimeter so stay tight in your holes and don't leave 'em.

Verb

nape (third-person singular simple present napes, present participle naping, simple past and past participle naped)

1. (transitive, military, slang) To bombard with napalm.

Anagrams

• -pnea, neap, NEPA, Pena, pena, pané, pean, pane

Albanian

Noun

nape

1. indefinite dative/ablative singular of napë

Latin

Noun

nāpe

1. vocative singular of nāpus

Middle English

Etymology 1

Unknown. First attested in c. 1325.

Alternative forms

• naape

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaːp(ə)/

Noun

nape (plural napes)

1. The nape; the neck's rear.
2. The nape of a fish; the part below a fish's head.

Derived terms

• napen

Descendants

• English: nape

References

• “nap, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 30 July 2018.

Etymology 2

From Old French nape, nappe, from Medieval Latin nappa, modification of mappa. First attested in c. 1475.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaːp(ə)/

Noun

nape

1. (rare except in compound words) tablecloth

Related terms

• napekyn
• naperie
• naperoun
• savenape
• surnape

Descendants

• English: nape (obsolete)

References

• “nāpe, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 30 July 2018.

Etymology 3

Verb

nape

1. alternative form of napen

Etymology 4

Verb

nape

1. alternative form of nappen

Old French

Etymology

From Latin mappa.

Noun

nape oblique singular, f (oblique plural napes, nominative singular nape, nominative plural napes)

1. table cloth
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     Tables mises, et napes sus

     Tables were laid, with table cloths on them

Descendants

• English: nape, napkin
• French: nappe

See also

• table

Yola

Noun

nape

1. alternative form of neape
   • GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Nipple is a diminutive of nape or neap.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 59