jackanapes
/ˈd͡ʒækəˌneɪps/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.32 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
(A proper name for) an ape or monkey, especially a tame one kept for entertainment or as a pet.
Obsolete
noun
(A proper name for) a person thought to behave like an ape or monkey, for example, in being impudent, mischievous, vain, etc.; specifically (chiefly humorous), an impudent or mischievous child.
Dated; Derogatory
Example Sentences
- "To iettynge, to iaggynge, and to full of iapes; / To mockynge, to mowynge, to lye a iackenapes: […]"
- "He grynnes and he gapis, / As it were iack napis."
- "Can Iack an Ape be merry vvhen his clog is at his heele."
- "A fair sight we are; and had I but a rebeck or guitar at my back, and a jackanapes on my shoulder, we should seem as joyous a brace of strollers as ever touched string at a castle gate."
- "[…] I could see him climbing like a jackanapes, for that part was again very steep; […]"
- "I [Aye], quoth Jack a napes, by these ten bones, / Nothing happens amiss to a præparid minde, / Tis good philosophy, katt will to kinde."
Etymology
From Middle English iack napys, iac nape, iac napes (“derogatory nickname of the English military commander and statesman William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1396–1450)”), probably from Jacun or Jakin (“pet forms of the male name Jack”) + ape (“ape, monkey”) + -s (possibly modelled after surnames such as Hobbes and Jakkes), referring to Suffolk’s heraldic badge which was an ape’s chain and clog (“weight such as a block of wood or log attached to an animal to hinder motion”) (see the image, right). It is uncertain whether the word was first coined as a nickname for Suffolk (the earliest known uses), or to refer to an ape or an ape-like person. If the word was originally a nickname, some early uses of etymology 1 sense 2.1 (“person thought to behave like an ape or monkey”) may allude to Suffolk who was widely regarded as an upstart, having risen from the merchant class. In later uses, the middle element of the word was often treated as the indefinite article a or an, that is, as if the word meant “Jack, an ape”.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈd͡ʒækəˌneɪps/
- British English: /ˈd͡ʒækəneɪps/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
jackanapes coat
Jane-of-apes