loper - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From lope (“to leap, to run”) + -er.

loper (plural lopers)

  1. One who or that which lopes; a runner; a leaper.
    • 2000, Marilyn Elkins, August Wilson: A Casebook:
      Wolves are very intelligent animals, and they are lopers and they are survivors.
  2. (ropemaking) A swivel placed at one end of the ropewalk, with the whirl being at the opposite end.

From American Spanish lobo (“wolf”) (/ˈloβo/), reinterpreted as or conflated with loper (“one who lopes”); compare the alternative forms which reflect other re-interpretations and conflations.

loper (plural lopers)

  1. (Southwestern US dialects) A wolf, especially a grey or timber wolf.
    • 1905 April 22, C. Blanco, “Flanking a Wolf”, in Forest and Stream, page 314:
      When I was still some distance above the ford, about a dozen prairie wolves and one loper* wolf ran up from the water. They told me that there were no Indians near here or they would not be here; and they were not here long, either. [...] the big loper left on a slow gallop [...]
      Loper, corruption of Sp. lobo, wolf.
    • 1936, James Shannon Buchanan, Chronicles of Oklahoma:
      Besides the cattle company paid a bounty for each coyote, loper wolf, panther, bobcat or bear. We had to buy our own six-shooter but the company furnished ammunition free. So it can be seen why most cowboys were pretty good shots.

From Dutch loper (“walker, runner, messenger, bishop (chess piece), carpet, master key, offshoot”), from Middle Dutch lopere (“runner, messenger, walker”). Equivalent to loop +‎ -er.

loper (plural lopers, diminutive lopertjie)

  1. (chess) bishop; chess piece that moves diagonally
  2. walker; someone who walks
  3. (archaic) runner; someone who runs or moves quickly
  4. (historical) messenger, that delivers messages by foot
  5. (botany) shoot or sprout that forms at the end of roots from which new shoots or sprouts develop
  6. (botany, uncommon) tendrils of creepers and vines used for support
Chess pieces in Afrikaans · skaakstukke (skaak + stukke) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
koning dame toring loper ruiter pion

From Middle Dutch lopere. Equivalent to lopen +‎ -er.

In the chess sense, likely a semantic loan from German Läufer.

loper m (plural lopers, diminutive lopertje n)

  1. runner
    Synonyms: hardloper, renner
  2. somebody who walks
  3. a carpet
    rode loper — red carpet
  4. (chess) bishop
    Synonym: raadsheer
    • [**2022**, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE‎[1] (in English), page 21:
      For the abbreviation of the name of the pieces, each player is free to use the name which is commonly used in his/her country. Examples: F = fou (French for bishop), L = loper (Dutch for bishop). In printed periodicals, the use of figurines is recommended.]
  5. master key
    Synonym: moedersleutel
  6. message runner, messager who runs on foot
  7. (archaic) shoot from the roots of a plant
    Synonym: uitloper
Chess pieces in Dutch · schaakstukken (schaak + stukken) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
koning koningin, dame toren loper, bisschop, raadsheer paard pion

Unadapted borrowing from Dutch loper, from Middle Dutch lopere.

lopêr

  1. (colloquial) deliveryman, that delivers newspaper, and so on
  2. (chess) bishop: the chess piece denoted ♗ or ♝ which moves along diagonal lines and developed from the shatranj alfil ("elephant") and was originally known as the aufil or archer in English
    Synonyms: menteri, gajah, luncup
  3. A strip of fabric used to decorate or protect a table or dressing table.
    Synonym: taplak meja tamu
    Taplak meja tamu berbentuk loper ini dibuat dari bahan alami batang tanaman mendong (Fibristylis glubolusa).
    This runner shaped guest tablecloth is made from natural materials from the stems of the fimbristyle plant (Fibristylis glubolusa).
Chess pieces in Indonesian · buah catur (see also: catur) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
raja menteri, patih, ratu, ster benteng gajah, loper, menteri, luncung, luncur, peluncur kuda bidak, pion, prajurit