saper

See also: sapér and såper

Aragonese

Alternative forms

• saber
• sabre (Ribagorzan)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sapere (“taste, know”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈpe(ɾ)/
• Syllabification: sa‧per
• Rhymes: -e(ɾ)

Verb

saper

1. to know

Conjugation

Conjugation of saper (second conjugation)

infinitive			saper
gerund			sapendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		sapiu, sapito		sapida, sapita
		plural		sapius, sapitos		sapidas, sapitas
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		yo	tú	él	nusatros nusatras	vusatros vusatras	ellos/els ellas
	present	sapo	sapes	sape	sapemos	sapez	sapen
	imperfect	sapeba, sapebe	sapebas	sapeba	sapebanos	sapebaz	sapeban
	preterite	sapié	sapiés	sapió	sapiemos	sapiez	sapioron, sapión
	future	saperé	saperás	saperá	saperemos	saperez	saperán
	conditional	sapería	saperías	sapería	saperíanos	saperíaz	saperían
subjunctive		yo	tú	él	nusatros nusatras	vusatros vusatras	ellos/els ellas
	present	sapa	sapas	sapa	sapamos	sapaz	sapan
	imperfect	sapese	sapeses	sapese	sapesenos	sapesez	sapesen
imperative		—	tú	—	—	vusatros vusatras	—
		—	sape	—	—	sapez	—

References

• “saber”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sa.pe/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Italian zappare (“to hoe”).

Verb

saper

1. (transitive) to sap, do sapping work on (to subvert by digging)
2. (transitive, figurative) to erode, wear down, undermine
   • 1857, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary […]‎^[1], Paris: Michel Lévy Frères; republished as Lydia Davis, transl., 2010:

     Il établissait des comparaisons entre les écoles primaires et les frères ignorantins, au détriment de ces derniers, rappelait la Saint-Barthélemy à propos d'une allocation de cent francs faite à l'église, et dénonçait des abus, lançait des boutades. C'était son mot. Homais sapait; il devenait dangereux.

     He drew comparisons between the primary schools and the Ignorantine friars, to the detriment of the latter, recalled Saint Bartholomew's Day in connection with an allocation of a hundred francs to the church, denounced abuses, and hurled witticisms. That was his word for it. Homais was undermining the foundations; he was becoming dangerous.

Derived terms

• sapeur

Etymology 2

Unknown.

Verb

saper

1. (informal, transitive, reflexive, Europe, Africa) to dress

   Ce type-là est toujours bien sapé.

   That guy is always well-dressed.

Etymology 3

Verb

saper

1. (transitive, informal, Quebec) to eat or chew noisily
2. (transitive, informal, Quebec) to slurp

Etymology 4

From sape, from Latin sappa. Compare Italian zappare, Friulian sapâ, Venetan sapar, Romanian săpa.

Verb

saper

1. (agriculture) to harvest or reap forage or cereals with a small scythe

Conjugation

Conjugation of saper (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	saper
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	sapant /sa.pɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		sapé /sa.pe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	sape /sap/	sapes /sap/	sape /sap/	sapons /sa.pɔ̃/	sapez /sa.pe/	sapent /sap/
	imperfect	sapais /sa.pɛ/	sapais /sa.pɛ/	sapait /sa.pɛ/	sapions /sa.pjɔ̃/	sapiez /sa.pje/	sapaient /sa.pɛ/
	past historic2	sapai /sa.pe/	sapas /sa.pa/	sapa /sa.pa/	sapâmes /sa.pam/	sapâtes /sa.pat/	sapèrent /sa.pɛʁ/
	future	saperai /sa.pʁe/	saperas /sa.pʁa/	sapera /sa.pʁa/	saperons /sa.pʁɔ̃/	saperez /sa.pʁe/	saperont /sa.pʁɔ̃/
	conditional	saperais /sa.pʁɛ/	saperais /sa.pʁɛ/	saperait /sa.pʁɛ/	saperions /sa.pə.ʁjɔ̃/	saperiez /sa.pə.ʁje/	saperaient /sa.pʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	sape /sap/	sapes /sap/	sape /sap/	sapions /sa.pjɔ̃/	sapiez /sa.pje/	sapent /sap/
	imperfect2	sapasse /sa.pas/	sapasses /sa.pas/	sapât /sa.pa/	sapassions /sa.pa.sjɔ̃/	sapassiez /sa.pa.sje/	sapassent /sa.pas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	sape /sap/	—	sapons /sa.pɔ̃/	sapez /sa.pe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Related terms

• sape

Further reading

• “saper”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• après, âpres, épars, pares, parés, râpes, râpés, repas

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈper/

Verb

saper

1. to know

Conjugation

    Conjugation of saper

infinitive		saper
participle		present	perfect
		sapente, sapiente	sapite
active		simple	perfect
	present	sape	ha sapite
	past	sapeva	habeva sapite
	future	sapera	habera sapite
	conditional	saperea	haberea sapite
	imperative	sape	—
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es sapite	ha essite sapite
	past	esseva sapite	habeva essite sapite
	future	essera sapite	habera essite sapite
	conditional	esserea sapite	haberea essite sapite
	imperative	sia sapite	—

Italian

Verb

saper (apocopated)

1. apocopic form of sapere

Anagrams

• Serpa, Sprea, aspre, parse, persa, presa, presà, raspe, serpa, spare, spera

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French sapeur, from Middle French sappeur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsa.pɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -apɛr
• Syllabification: sa‧per

Noun

saper m pers (female equivalent saperka, related adjective saperski)

1. combat engineer, sapper

Declension

Declension of saper

	singular	plural
nominative	saper	saperzy/sapery (deprecative)
genitive	sapera	saperów
dative	saperowi	saperom
accusative	sapera	saperów
instrumental	saperem	saperami
locative	saperze	saperach
vocative	saperze	saperzy

Further reading

• “saper”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “saper”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Torres Strait Creole

Pteropus livingstonii

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

saper

1. (Eastern dialect) flying fox, fruit bat

Synonyms

• sapur (Western dialect)