Etymograph

English

leaper

Leaper comes from Old English hlēapere ‘runner, leaper, dancer, courier, vagrant’, from hlēapan ‘to jump’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *klewb- ‘to spring’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*klewb-‘to spring’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlaupaną‘to jump forward, to leap’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlaupan‘to jump forward, to leap’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hlēapan‘to jump’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150hlēapere‘runner, leaper, dancer, courier, vagrant’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lepere
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1980leaper

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*klewb-‘to spring’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlaupaną‘to jump forward, to leap’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlaupan‘to jump forward, to leap’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hlēapan‘to jump’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150hlēapere‘runner, leaper, dancer, courier, vagrant’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lepere
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1980leaper

Earliest quotation: 1980, Anthony Burgess, New York: Avon: “[…] I read in the Bulletin about some mad…”

Formed from leap + -er

Proto-Indo-European *klewb- ‘to spring’

Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną ‘to jump forward, to leap’

Proto-West Germanic *hlaupan ‘to jump forward, to leap’

Old English hlēapan ‘to jump’

Middle English lepen ‘to leap’

English leap

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną ‘to jump forward, to leap’

loop, gallop, wallop, lope, 3 more

Today it means

noun One who leaps.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *klewb- / leaper

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