John NicholsSybil SteinbergJane Austen
Did you know?
Caper in Latin means "a male goat". Anyone who has watched a young goat frolic in a field or clamber onto the roof of a car knows the kind of crazy fun the English word caper —which is also a verb—is referring to. A capriole is a backward kick done in midair by a trained horse. Capricorn, meaning "horned goat", is a constellation and one of the signs of the zodiac. And a capricious act is one that's done with as little thought as a frisky goat might give it.
Examples of caper in a Sentence
Helen Mirren, Glamour, 27 Oct. 2025
Previously the June Squibb caper Thelma was Magnolia Pictures’ widest release with an opening of 1,290 theaters in June 2024.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2025
Noel Murray, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2024
Chapman persuaded Ford Motor Co. to fulfill his V-8 engine requirements and built the first of what were to become revolutionary Lotus-Fords, pencil-thin cars that looked like spiders capering through the turns.
—Mike Kupper, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2024
See All Example Sentences for caper
Cite this Entry
“Caper.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caper. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
caper
1 of 3 noun
caper
3 of 3 nounNoun
from earlier capers "caper shrub or berry" (mistaken as a plural), from Middle English caperis (same meaning), from Latin capperis "caper shrub"
Verb
probably an altered form of English capriole "a playful leap, a leap by a trained horse," from early French capriole or early Italian capriola (both, same meaning), derived from Latin capreolus "goat, male deer"
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