# nape
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /neɪp/
* Audio (General Australian):(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)
* (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.
* (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)

##### Translations
#### 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)
* (obsolete) A tablecloth.

##### Derived terms

* napkin
* nappie

### Etymology 3

Short for napalm.

#### Noun

nape (uncountable)
* (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)
* (transitive, military, slang) To bombard with napalm.

### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “nape”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Anagrams

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

## Latin
### Noun

nāpe
* vocative singular of nāpus

## Middle English
### Etymology 1

Unknown.

#### Alternative forms

* naape

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈnaːp(ə)/

#### Noun

nape (plural napys)
* The nape; the neck's rear.
* The nape of a fish; the part below a fish's head.

##### Derived terms

* napyn

##### Descendants

* English: nape

##### References

* “nap, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-30.

### Etymology 2

From Old French nape, nappe, from Medieval Latin nappa, modification of mappa.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈnaːp(ə)/

#### Noun

nape
* (rare except in compound words) tablecloth

##### Related terms

* naperie
* naperoun
* napkyn
* savenape
* surnape

##### Descendants

* English: nape (obsolete)

##### References

* “nāpe, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-30.

### Etymology 3
#### Verb

nape
* Alternative form of nappen

### Etymology 4
#### Verb

nape
* Alternative form of napyn

## Old French
### Etymology

From Latin mappa.

### Noun

nape oblique singular, f (oblique plural napes, nominative singular nape, nominative plural napes)
* table cloth
** c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:Tables mises, et napes susTables were laid, with table cloths on them

#### Descendants

* English: nape, napkin
* French: nappe

### See also

* table

## Yola
### Noun

nape
* 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